# 6.45 explained — Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

> Chapter companion for Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein.

## What happens

Wittgenstein describes the mystical feeling as the contemplation of the world as a limited whole, sub specie aeterni.

## Themes in this chapter

### Ethics and the Mystical

This proposition directly defines the mystical feeling as the contemplation of the world as a limited whole, a key aspect of the ethical and mystical dimension of the Tractatus.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Wittgenstein

Author of the proposition, presenting the mystical feeling as the contemplation of the world as a limited whole.

## Key lines

> The contemplation of the world sub specie aeterni is its contemplation as a limited whole.

Viewing the world from an eternal perspective means seeing it as a bounded totality.

_Clarifies the meaning of sub specie aeterni in Wittgenstein's context._

> The feeling that the world is a limited whole is the mystical feeling.

The mystical feeling is the sense that the world is a finite, complete whole.

_Identifies the mystical feeling with the perception of the world's limits._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters/6-45
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tractatus_logico_philosophicus_se/chapters