Understanding Wittgenstein’s Mirror Theory of Language
Wittgenstein’s Philosophy: Language, Thought, and Reality
Ludwig Wittgenstein, the Austrian philosopher, studied with Bertrand Russell. During the First World War, he wrote his seminal work, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The structure of the Tractatus is characterized by making a statement and then following it with further elaborations.
Wittgenstein’s Mirror Theory of Language
What is the core intention behind Wittgenstein’s philosophy? It centers on the Theory of the Mirror. In this theory, speakers interact with three fundamental elements:
- The Mirror: Represents language.
- The Reflection: Represents thought.
- The Object: Represents reality.
This analogy suggests that our engagement with the world is akin to looking into a mirror. The object is reality, the thought is the reflection, and the mirror itself is language. For example, the statement “snow is snow-white” involves the object (snow), the thought, the logic, and the language (signs or sounds).
Correspondence Between Language, Thought, and Reality
Wittgenstein aimed to demonstrate a profound correspondence between language, thought, and reality, asserting that they reflect each other or are integral parts of a unified method. Consider the examples of “morning star” (Venus at dawn) and “Vesper, the evening star” (Venus in the evening). These are different expressions referring to the same object, which has the same meaning but with different senses. The meaning is tied to the object, but the thought associated with it can change.
Language, in Wittgenstein’s view, contains reality. Thought is expressed in propositions with meaning (e.g., “the snow is white”), distinguishing them from nonsense sentences (e.g., “the board I speak”). Thought (logic) resides in sentences that possess meaning or significance, representing facts. We are capable of creating language without fully understanding the intricate relationship between names and their meaning.
Wittgenstein’s Aphorisms and the Limits of Language
An aphorism is a thought expressed concisely, often complete in itself, that functions like a sharp, cutting arrow. It states that thinking is expressed through thoughts. If something is thought but cannot be expressed through language, then it is not truly thought. This implies that the limits of language and thought are the same. If there is thought, it can be said; if something cannot be said, it is not part of thought and therefore not expressible.
The Inexpressible Nature of Experience
Regarding experience: Sometimes, one might claim to have “killed” an experience by trying to articulate it, as language can falsify or distort it. We can convey an idea of what happened, but we cannot fully express the raw sensory experience itself because it is inexpressible.
Language’s Concealed Logic and Philosophy’s Role
Language often conceals its own logic, or the underlying thought. Why? Because the form of language serves purposes other than merely revealing thought. To uncover the logic, one must strip away the superficial appearance of language. For instance, when formalizing an argument, we remove linguistic appearances to reveal its inherent logic.
For Wittgenstein, problems that have no solution (i.e., are meaningless, can be neither true nor false because they do not refer to reality) are not true problems at all. Thus, for Wittgenstein, the philosophy of language is critical; its function is to reveal false problems and simplify language to display its underlying logic.
Facts are contained within language (e.g., “I’m going to pull the bra with his teeth”), but at first glance, there appears to be no direct relationship between the signs and reality. What allows language to show reality is thought (logic). Without thought, there is no possible relationship between language and reality.
A proposition (e.g., “I’m going to pull the bra with his teeth”) contains a fact. Why do signs appear to represent facts similarly? Because there is an underlying similarity: logic (thinking). This underlying logic, contained within language, confirms facts: to understand a proposition is to simultaneously grasp the fact it presents. A statement can be true or false, or simply make no sense.