[lit-ideas] Re: Tractatus
- From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:18:59 -0800
JL wrote
So, the question would be, disregarding the German 'abhandlung', whether
what Wittgenstein is doing is 'handling' "logico-philosophical questions". I
provided the etymologies for 'tractatus' (from verb "tracto") which while
not literally referring to the 'hand' (as the "abhandlung" does), it
provides for an interesting semantic field.
He's already said he isn't. See my last post on what he says re
'philosophical logic,' and the naming of this book of his. 'Abhandlung'
means treatise ('essay,' etc.)
So the immediate, transparent, meaning, is that Wittgenstein is posing
himself as an authority who self-claims some knowledge which is sufficient to
label his thing with the grandiose "Middle Latin" name of "tractatus" (or
treatise) on a subject which he has a few doubts (implicature: QUITE a few:
many) about!
I have no idea what this means. Here again is Wittgenstein's comment on
the suitability of one name over another.
'For although TLP isn't _ideal_ still it has something like the right
meaning, wheras 'Philosophical logic' is wrong. In fact I don't know
what it means! There is no such thing as philosophical logic. (Unless
one says that as a whole the book is nonsense the title might as well be
nonsense to.'
Robert Paul,
tangled a logico-epistolary briar patch
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