The '''picture theory of language''', also known as the '''picture theory of meaning''', is a theory of linguistic [[reference]] and [[Meaning (philosophy of language)|meaning]] articulated by [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] in the ''[[Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus]]''. Wittgenstein suggested that a meaningful proposition pictured a [[State of affairs (philosophy)|state of affairs]] or [[atomic fact]].<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/wittgens/ Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889—1951) (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)]</ref><ref>http://www{{Cite journal | doi = 10.jstor.org/pss2307/2183303| jstor = 2183303| title = Wittgenstein's Picture Theory of Language| journal = The Philosophical Review| volume = 73| issue = 4| pages = 493| year = 1964| last1 = Keyt | first1 = D. }}</ref> Wittgenstein compared the concept of logical pictures (German ''Bild''{{langx|de|Bilder}}) with spatial pictures.<ref>http://www{{cite journal |title=The Picture Theory of Meaning in the Tractatus as a Development of Moore's and Russell's Theories of Judgment |author=V. Hope |journal=Philosophy |volume=44 |issue=168 |date=April 1969 |pages=140–148 |jstor=3750136 |doi=10.org1017/pss/3750136s0031819100024335}}</ref> The picture theory of language is considered an earlya [[correspondence theory of truth]].<ref>http://www.{{cite journal |title=The Picture Theory of Meaning |author=Edna Daitz |journal=Mind |volume=62 |issue=246 |date=April 1953 |pages=184–201 |jstor=2251383 |doi=10.org1093/pssmind/2251383lxii.246.184}}</ref>
Wittgenstein's claims there is an unbridgeable gap between what can be expressed in language and what can only be expressed in non-verbal ways. The picture theory of languagemeaning states that statements are meaningful if, and only if, they can be defined or pictured in the real world.
Wittgenstein's later practice-based theory of meaninginvestigations laid out in the First Part of ''[[Philosophical Investigations]]'' refuted and replaced his earlier picture-based theory with a [[use theory of meaning]]. However, the second psychology-focused Part of ''Philosophical Investigations'' employs the concept as a metaphor for human psychology.<ref name="Philosophical Investigations">{{cite book|last=Wittgenstein|first=Ludwig|otherstranslator= TranslatedG.E.M. byAnscombe|translator-link= [[G.E.M. Anscombe]]|title=Philosophical Investigations|url=https://archive.org/details/philosophicalinv0000witt|url-access=registration|year=1968|publisher=Basil Blackwell & Mott, Ltd.|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/philosophicalinv0000witt/page/178 178]|edition=Third|quote=The human body is the best picture of the human soul.}}</ref>
