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Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
5.153 explained
Wittgenstein asserts that probability is not an intrinsic property of propositions; events are binary—they either occur or they do not.
What happens
Wittgenstein asserts that probability is not an intrinsic property of propositions; events are binary—they either occur or they do not.
Themes in this chapter
Logic and Tautology
The proposition denies intrinsic probability, aligning with the view that logical propositions are either true or false without degrees.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the proposition
Key passages
“A proposition is in itself neither probable nor improbable. An event occurs or does not occur, there is no middle course.”
A proposition does not carry its own likelihood; an event either happens or it doesn't—there is no in-between.
Wittgenstein rejects the idea that probability is a property of propositions themselves.