Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
4.114 explained
The proposition must set a boundary to thought by delineating the thinkable, thereby also marking the unthinkable from within.
What happens
The proposition must set a boundary to thought by delineating the thinkable, thereby also marking the unthinkable from within.
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Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This passage marks the story’s dramatic climax because it presents the moment when the protagonist’s obsessive…
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Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Limits of Language and Thought
The proposition functions to limit the thinkable and thus define the unthinkable.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the proposition
Key passages
“It should limit the thinkable and thereby the unthinkable. It should limit the unthinkable from within through the thinkable.”
The proposition must draw a boundary around what can be thought, and in doing so, it also defines what cannot be thought, by approaching the unthinkable from the side of the thinkable.
Clarifies the role of the proposition in demarcating the limits of thought.
