‟My language” and ‟my world” in Wittgenstein's Tractatus

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Other Title
  • 『論考』における「私の言語」と「私の世界」
  • ロンコウ ニ オケル ワタクシ ノ ゲンゴ ト ワタクシ ノ セカイ

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Thesis 5. 6 of Wittgenstein's Tractatus, "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world", is known as one of the most difficult thesis to interpret. It is said that the thesis connects two discussions, namely the discussion of semantics and that of ethics. In this paper, I try to explain how these two discussions are connected by the thesis 5.6. My discussion consists roughly of two parts. The first part is about the relationship between the thesis 5.6 and Tractatus's language theory, which is called "picture theory". According to the picture theory, we construct "pictures" as propositions from the actual empirical world, and the pictures represent possible states of the world. So my language, i.e. the language I understand, is limited to my empirical world. The second part is an attempt to show that the thesis that my world is limited, in Tractatus's context, means that my life is limited in an ethical sense. "My world" is limited not only in respect to other people's world, but also in respect to the other possible worlds of mine. And because my actual world is my life, my life is in one sense limited to this actual life in respect to my other possible lives, which could be better or worse than the actual one. This limitation is to be thought as ethical. From these discussions, we can conclude that thesis 5.6 connects Wittgenstein's language theory with his ethical view in the sense we saw above.

Journal

  • 哲学論叢

    哲学論叢 26 54-65, 1999-09-01

    京都大学哲学論叢刊行会

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