Apparent tensions and problems in the Tractatus

Abstract

My aim in this essay is to distinguish between genuine problems facing the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and difficulties that are more apparent than real. An intrinsic limitation of the philosophy of the Tractatus is that its approach to language, proposition, and thought is purely syntactic and does not suffice to account for various topics such as the functioning of names, quantification, and the theory of judgment. Subtly, Wittgenstein himself is forced into the realms of semantics. On this basis he tries to show that the Russellian theory of judgment is wrong, although the same criticism can be applied to himself. Finally, I take up the important issues of silence and the limits of meaningfulness as typical examples of pseudo-difficulties that leave Wittgenstein's book intact.