Please wait a minute...
Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

邮发代号 80-983

Frontiers of Philosophy in China  2021, Vol. 16 Issue (1): 46-66   https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-010-021-0004-9
  本期目录
Truth and Nonsense: A Unified Reading of the Tractatus
DAI Haiqiang()
Center for Studies of Values and Culture, School of Philosophy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
 全文: PDF(241 KB)  
Abstract

Upon reading the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, readers might be confused about the nature of the book, since there seems to be a paradox introduced by the author’s two claims: a) the book conveys truths; b) propositions in the book are nonsense. Commentators disagree as to how best to resolve this paradox. Some hold that there are ineffable truths conveyed by nonsense propositions. Others deny this kind of truth, arguing that the book is not all nonsense, for there are some propositions in the book expressing at least the therapeutic truth that philosophical propositions are just nonsense. Recently, some interpreters have claimed that there is no truth at all. While the incoherence of the context is genuine, the purpose of the book is ethical. By diagnosing these interpretations, this paper intends to provide a new perspective toward reading the book by resolving the paradox. The truth of the Tractatus is not a propositional truth, but a specific true thought. The nonsense of the Tractatus is a transcending nonsense, rather than a pure nonsense. The book intends to attain the true thought about the mystical ethics by way of transcending nonsense. In this case, the Tractatus is not an incoherent work at all, since the paradox is not genuine. The fact that the nonsense part is a means to fulfill its ethical purpose makes the book a unified whole.

Key wordstruth    nonsense    unified reading    the mystical    ethics
出版日期: 2021-04-15
 引用本文:   
. [J]. Frontiers of Philosophy in China, 2021, 16(1): 46-66.
DAI Haiqiang. Truth and Nonsense: A Unified Reading of the Tractatus . Front. Philos. China, 2021, 16(1): 46-66.
 链接本文:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/CN/10.3868/s030-010-021-0004-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/CN/Y2021/V16/I1/46
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited

  Shared   
  Discussed