Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
6.3611 explained
Wittgenstein argues that the 'passage of time' is not a process that can be directly compared; instead, temporal sequence is described only by reference to another process, such as the movement of a chronometer.
What happens
Wittgenstein argues that the 'passage of time' is not a process that can be directly compared; instead, temporal sequence is described only by reference to another process, such as the movement of a chronometer. The same holds for space: asymmetry is required to describe why one event occurs rather than another, and that asymmetry can be seen as the cause.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This passage marks the story’s dramatic climax because it presents the moment when the protagonist’s obsessive…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Limits of Language and Thought
Highlights the impossibility of directly referring to 'time' as a process, showing a limit on what can be meaningfully said.
- Logic and Tautology
The reasoning about asymmetry and cause reflects logical constraints on description, akin to tautological structures.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the proposition, presenting a critique of the notion of time as an independent process.
Key passages
“We cannot compare any process with the “passage of time”—there is no such thing—but only with another process (say, with the movement of the chronometer).”
There is no independent 'flow of time' to measure against; we can only compare one process to another, like using a clock.
Wittgenstein denies time as an entity, reducing temporal description to relational comparison.
“Hence the description of the temporal sequence of events is only possible if we support ourselves on another process.”
To describe events in time, we must rely on a second process as a reference.
Emphasizes the dependence of temporal language on observable processes.
