[lit-ideas] Atomicity and Tractatus 2.0201
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:05:29 EDT
Again from the OED:
1959 B. RUSSELL My Philos. Devel. x. 118 The principle of atomicity is
stated by Wittgenstein in the following terms: ‘Every statement about
complexes can be analysed into a statement about their constituent parts, and
into
those propositions which completely describe the complexes’ (Tractatus,
2.0201).
Oddly, 'complex' is a word I use a lot following C. A. B. Peacocke. He
speaks of 'propositional complexes', etc. I too believe that things like,
"the cat is on the mat"
_is_ a complex, and that it makes little sense to dwell on the
'simplicities' inovlved. We cannot think _simplicities_. It's always a
propositional
complex we must think of.
When we say, colloquially,
"Geary thought, 'Robert'"
we have to expand as "Geary thought that Robert had the key to the car,"
etc.
JLS
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