The picture theory of language, also known as the picture theory of meaning, is a theory of linguistic reference and meaning articulated by Ludwig Wittgenstein in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Wittgenstein suggested that a meaningful proposition pictured a state of affairs or atomic fact.[1][2] Wittgenstein compared the concept of logical pictures (German Bild) with spatial pictures.[3] The picture theory of language is considered an early correspondence theory of truth.[4]
Wittgenstein's picture theory of language states that statements are meaningful if they can be defined or pictured in the real world.
Wittgenstein's later practice-based theory of meaning laid out in the First Part of Philosophical Investigations refuted and replaced his earlier picture-based theory. However, the second psychology-focused Part of Philosophical Investigations employs the concept as a metaphor for human psychology.[5]
References
- ^ http://www.iep.utm.edu/wittgens/
- ^ Attention: This template ({{cite jstor}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by jstor:2183303, please use {{cite journal}} with
|jstor=2183303instead. - ^ V. Hope (April 1969). "The Picture Theory of Meaning in the Tractatus as a Development of Moore's and Russell's Theories of Judgment". Philosophy. 44 (168): 140–148. JSTOR 3750136.
- ^ Edna Daitz (April 1953). "The Picture Theory of Meaning". Mind. 62 (246): 184–201. JSTOR 2251383.
- ^ Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1968). Philosophical Investigations. Translated by G.E.M. Anscombe (Third ed.). New York: Basil Blackwell & Mott, Ltd. p. 178.
The human body is the best picture of the human soul.