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Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus 471st ed. Edition
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"Philosophy is not a theory," asserted Austro-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), "but an activity." In this 1921 opus, his only philosophical work published during his lifetime, Wittgenstein defined the object of philosophy as the logical clarification of thoughts and proposed the solution to most philosophic problems by means of a critical method of linguistic analysis. In proclaiming philosophy as a matter of logic rather than of metaphysics, Wittgenstein created a sensation among intellectual circles that influenced the development of logical positivism and changed the direction of 20th-century thought.
Beginning with the principles of symbolism and the necessary relations between words and objects, the author applies his theories to various branches of traditional philosophy, illustrating how mistakes arise from inappropriate use of symbolism and misuses of language. After examining the logical structure of propositions and the nature of logical inference, he discusses the theory of knowledge as well as principles of physics and ethics and aspects of the mystical.
Supervised by the author himself, this translation from the German by C. K. Ogden is regarded as the definitive text. A magisterial introduction by the distinguished philosopher Bertrand Russell hails Wittgenstein's achievement as extraordinarily important, "one which no serious philosopher can afford to neglect." Introduction by Bertrand Russell.
- ISBN-100486404455
- ISBN-13978-0486404455
- Edition471st ed.
- PublisherDover Publications
- Publication dateJanuary 12, 1998
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions5.4 x 0.4 x 8.4 inches
- Print length144 pages
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- Publisher : Dover Publications; 471st ed. edition (January 12, 1998)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 144 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0486404455
- ISBN-13 : 978-0486404455
- Item Weight : 5.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.4 x 0.4 x 8.4 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #100,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #54 in Philosophy of Logic & Language
- #111 in Modern Western Philosophy
- #1,484 in Unknown
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Hence, the author demonstrates that the solution to most philosophic problems becomes a critical method of linguistic analysis.
Tractatus begins with ontology and the state of affairs of the world is described. From there the book deals largely with the question of how language works and how it can describe the world accurately. Many forms of language (e.g. names and propositions) reflect different objective parts of reality (e.g. objects and facts). Logic is then discussed as it pertains to tautologies, contradictions and propositions. From this claim stems the conclusion that that the laws of science are not logical “laws,” but a means that we use to express reality—hence, science does not in fact explain our world but merely describes it.
Although the author embraces logic, he ironically ventures into the mystical on many occasions. Some of such highlights of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus include the proposal that most philosophical propositions are senseless (4.003), the relativity of “free” will and the lack of inner necessity of causality (5.1362), and the inability to recognize either the truth or falsehood from non-logical propositions. Wittgenstein brilliantly elaborates on widely accepted, yet wholly non-certain, everyday happenings (6.363II to 6.372) and clarifies that all ethics is transcendental (6.42I). In effect, the author posits that morality is in fact objective because subjective morality stems from happenstance, and is therefore meaningless.
All potential readers should be acutely aware that this book is a very, very tough read. You may find yourself taking several minutes to read through one short page and then several hours to digest what it is you in fact just read. Either way, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is a terse, powerful, enigmatic and notable in its ability to whisk the dormant imagination into shape. The intellectual ramifications of being able to fully grasp and comprehend the material are limitless.
Ludwig Wittgenstein was, whatever his psychological makeup, precisely such a man. Born to an incredibly wealthy family, he renounced his inheritance and devoted himself to the life of the mind. Much of his first masterpiece was written while a gardener at a monastery. He loved the peace and solitude enough that he asked if he could become a monk despite being an atheist.
His solution to the most profound questions of man caused a revolution in academic philosophy that reverberates to this day. Essentially, he held that the human mind can only make pictures of reality through the modicum of words. Language then refers to materiality or is meaningless. Questions like, “Is the true necessarily beautiful?” were solved not by saying that they were a mystery but that they betrayed a flaw in reckoning the power of the mind which reveals itself in nonsensical language.
It is only the physical sciences that can reach the truth and so the task of philosophy was simply to render science service to make certain that its hypotheses and theories were correctly articulated.
While Wittgenstein himself came to see the Tractatus as gravely mistaken, its genius was recognized by Bertrand Russell and he was granted a seat at Cambridge to continue his philosophical investigations.
Because of its relative simplicity it is an ideal text to introduce collegians to analytic philosophy. Like many other classics, the Tractatus’s flaws do not relegate it to oblivion. Its influence on modern thought cannot be exaggerated. Highly recommended to those interested in the Western philosophic tradition.
There is much to be gained from this book, even if the sections in which he uses symbolic logic and truth tables are skimmed or skipped.
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Constitui até hoje uma obra que se destaca no universo filósofico.
Please read extensively on logical positivism before you touch this book.









