This thesis explores central themes in Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, and engages... more This thesis explores central themes in Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, and engages with exegetical discussions of Wittgenstein's early philosophy. Metaphysical, therapeutic, and elucidatory interpretations are presented and discussed. The division between showing and saying, which is a key distinction in the Tractatus, is found to be more complicated than the exegetical discourse sometimes suggests. This is argued to count in favour of an elucidatory reading of the Tractatus' seemingly paradoxical closing remarks. Moreover, Wittgenstein's account of picturing is shown to have a fundamental role, around which the distinctions between showing and saying and internal and external relations revolve. Even the doctrine of simple objects and atomic facts is rooted in the pictorial view of language. The thesis furthermore defends a dynamic interpretation of internal relations, upon which internal relations are shown through the application of operations, a view that is linked to Wittgenstein's philosophy of the subject. The result is a view on which, although the limits of language mean the limits of the world, the limits are not drawn once and for all. VI Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Bjørn Ramberg, for his illuminating comments and proactive engagement. His feedback has given me the motivation to keep writing and thinking through the difficult material at hand. I would also like to thank everyone who has joined me in discussions of philosophy in general, and Wittgenstein's thought in particular, over the years. These discussions initially sparked my interest in the relationship between language, thought, and action, and they have since given me the inspiration to study the subject at greater depth. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my family for their constant and invaluable support, without which this thesis could not have been written.
This thesis explores central themes in Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, and engages... more This thesis explores central themes in Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, and engages with exegetical discussions of Wittgenstein's early philosophy. Metaphysical, therapeutic, and elucidatory interpretations are presented and discussed. The division between showing and saying, which is a key distinction in the Tractatus, is found to be more complicated than the exegetical discourse sometimes suggests. This is argued to count in favour of an elucidatory reading of the Tractatus' seemingly paradoxical closing remarks. Moreover, Wittgenstein's account of picturing is shown to have a fundamental role, around which the distinctions between showing and saying and internal and external relations revolve. Even the doctrine of simple objects and atomic facts is rooted in the pictorial view of language. The thesis furthermore defends a dynamic interpretation of internal relations, upon which internal relations are shown through the application of operations, a view that is linked to Wittgenstein's philosophy of the subject. The result is a view on which, although the limits of language mean the limits of the world, the limits are not drawn once and for all. VI Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Bjørn Ramberg, for his illuminating comments and proactive engagement. His feedback has given me the motivation to keep writing and thinking through the difficult material at hand. I would also like to thank everyone who has joined me in discussions of philosophy in general, and Wittgenstein's thought in particular, over the years. These discussions initially sparked my interest in the relationship between language, thought, and action, and they have since given me the inspiration to study the subject at greater depth. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my family for their constant and invaluable support, without which this thesis could not have been written.
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