Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus · Chapter
6.5 explained
Wittgenstein argues that if a question cannot be expressed, it cannot have an answer, and thus the riddle does not exist; any question that can be posed can also be answered.
What happens
Wittgenstein argues that if a question cannot be expressed, it cannot have an answer, and thus the riddle does not exist; any question that can be posed can also be answered.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
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…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Limits of Language and Thought
The proposition asserts that unexpressible questions are meaningless, highlighting the boundaries of language.
- Nonsense and Meaning
The dismissal of the riddle as nonexistent reflects the Tractatus's view that what cannot be spoken is nonsense.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Wittgenstein
Author of the proposition; presents the logical relationship between questions and answers.
Key passages
“For an answer which cannot be expressed the question too cannot be expressed.”
If an answer cannot be put into words, then the corresponding question also cannot be put into words.
Wittgenstein ties the expressibility of questions and answers together, implying that meaningful questions must have expressible answers.
“The riddle does not exist.”
There is no genuine puzzle or mystery that lies beyond language.
This rejects the idea of unsolvable metaphysical riddles, aligning with the Tractatus's anti-metaphysical stance.
“If a question can be put at all, then it can also be answered.”
Any meaningful question has a possible answer.
Wittgenstein asserts a one-to-one correspondence between well-formed questions and their answers.
