Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
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"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent" is the famous concluding proposition of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s *Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus*, expressing the idea that language should not attempt to state what lies beyond the limits of meaningful discourse.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent | 0 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
aphorism
ⓘ
philosophical proposition ⓘ quotation ⓘ |
| addresses |
boundary of sense and nonsense
ⓘ
relation between language and reality ⓘ what can be meaningfully said ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
linguistic turn
ⓘ
logical positivism ⓘ |
| author | Ludwig Wittgenstein ⓘ |
| centralTheme |
limits of language
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meaningful discourse ⓘ showing versus saying ⓘ unsayable ⓘ |
| connectedTo |
Wittgenstein’s early philosophy
ⓘ
Wittgenstein’s view of ethics as unsayable ⓘ Wittgenstein’s view of the mystical as what can only be shown ⓘ |
| field |
logic
ⓘ
metaphilosophy ⓘ philosophy of language ⓘ |
| firstPublishedIn |
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
ⓘ
surface form:
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (English edition 1922)
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus ⓘ
surface form:
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (German edition 1921)
|
| genre | philosophical maxim ⓘ |
| hasForm | conditional statement ⓘ |
| hasInfluenced |
20th-century analytic philosophy
ⓘ
logical positivism ⓘ
surface form:
logical empiricism
philosophical quietism ⓘ |
| hasSubjectMatter |
criteria of sense
ⓘ
role of philosophy ⓘ scope of meaningful language ⓘ |
| implies |
metaphysical, ethical, and mystical matters cannot be put into meaningful propositions
ⓘ
philosophy should clarify language rather than state metaphysical theses ⓘ some things lie beyond the limits of meaningful language ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| notableFor | being one of the most famous lines in 20th-century philosophy ⓘ |
| oftenInterpretedAs |
boundary statement for meaningful scientific discourse
ⓘ
call for silence about metaphysics ⓘ |
| originalForm | Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | German ⓘ |
| partOfWork | Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus ⓘ |
| philosophicalTradition | analytic philosophy ⓘ |
| positionInWork | Proposition 7 ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1921 ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
ineffable
ⓘ
limits of thought ⓘ logical form ⓘ meaningful proposition ⓘ picture theory of language ⓘ |
| workContext | concluding proposition of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
→
notablePropositionText
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Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
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