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Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter

4.28 explained

Wittgenstein states that the number of truth-possibilities of n elementary propositions corresponds to the number of combinations of their truth and falsehood.

What happens

Wittgenstein states that the number of truth-possibilities of n elementary propositions corresponds to the number of combinations of their truth and falsehood.

Themes in this chapter

  • Logical Atomism

    The proposition discusses elementary propositions and their truth-possibilities, central to logical atomism.

Characters to notice

Key passages

  • To these combinations correspond the same number of possibilities of the truth⁠—and falsehood⁠—of n elementary propositions.

    The number of ways n elementary propositions can be true or false equals the number of combinations of those propositions.

    Clarifies the correspondence between combinations and truth-possibilities.