Unit 7 Wittgenstein: Picture Theory of Meaning

UNIT 7 WITTGENSTEIN: PICTURE THEORY OF

MEANING
UNIT STRUCTURE
7.1 Learning objectives
7.2 Introduction
7.3 Picture theory of meaning
7.3.1 Elementary proposition
7.3.2 Philosophy is a critique of language
7.4 Evaluation
7.5 Let us sum up
7.6 Further readings
7.7 Answers to check your progress
7.8 Model questions

7.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

l explain the picture theory of meaning
l discuss the early saying of Wittgenstein-Philosophy is a critique of
language
l discuss critically the picture theory of meaning

7.2 INTRODUCTION

This unit introduces to you Wittgenstein’s picture theory of

meaning.Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein is one of the greatest
philosophers of the twentieth century. His celebrated Tractatus Logico
Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations are the two models of his
philosophising. He is best known as a genius. As a genius, he came to
the philosophical world under the network of philosophy of language. The
theory of meaning is one of the basic concepts of semantics. The picture
theory of meaning is also concerned with the meaning of words and

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sentences through the logical analysis of language. It also discusses the

other concepts. They are such as:
l elementary proposition
l Philosophy is a critique of language, and
l evaluation of this theory.

7.3 PICTURE THEORY OF MEANING

The picture theory of meaning is the most important concept in
Wittgenstein’s early philosophy. It holds that there is a hidden structure
or essence in every form of propositions or sentences. The picture
theory of meaning came to his mind when he saw in a magazine a
motorcar accident being represented in a law court by means of small
models. They also could be used to construct different types of
propositions for the exposition of the accident. This pictorial
representation stimulated his mind to formulate the picture theory of
meaning.
The picture theory of meaning entails that “A proposition is a model
or picture of reality.” It maintains that the truth or falsity of a proposition
can be evaluated through the picture or model it represents of the
situation.Wittgenstein writes –”A proposition can be true or false in virtue
of being a picture of reality.”
Language divulges the structure or form of reality. He talks about
the logical structure of propositions embedded in language. He writes-
”proposition communicates a situation to us, and so it must be
essentially connected with the situation. And the connection is precisely
that is its logical picture. Wittgenstein writes: A proposition states
something only in so far as it is a picture. Wittgenstein presents his
picture theory of meaning as a paragon to focus on the underlying
structure of language. The underlying structure manifests the reality,
which is not conspicuous in proposition.

7.3.1 Elementary proposition

Wittgenstein’s picture theory of meaning is a theory of the
meaning of propositions. All propositions are analysed into
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ultimate proposition i.e., elementary proposition. This kind of

proposition focuses on the inarticulate structure of proposition. He
asserts that an elementary proposition is constituted by names.
An elementary proposition is nothing but the conceptual or logical
structure of propositions. He explores the essence of a
proposition through the picture theory of meaning. He called it by
different names like pictorial form, pictorial relationship,
representational form and logical form.
Wittgenstein holds that our natural language or colloquial
language cannot express the logical form of language. Thus,
Wittgenstein feels that an artificial language or symbolic language
or logical language is required to disclose the inward form of
thought, which is regarded as the essence of proposition. He
writes: “In order to understand the essential nature of a
proposition, we should consider, hieroglyphic script which depicts
the facts that it describes.” And he again says “A proposition
shows how things stand if it is true, And it says that they do so
stand.” As for the relation between the proposition and the state
of affairs Wittgenstein asserts- “a proposition communicates a
situation to us and so it must be essentially connected with the
situation. And the connection is precisely that is its logical
picture.” Russell in this context writes- “the logical picture of a
fact, Wittgenstein says, is a gedanke. A picture can correspond or
not correspond with the fact and be accordingly true or false, but
in both cases it shares the logical form with the fact.”
Wittgenstein views that the logical form of proposition
becomes prominent through analysis. He asserts that logical
picture makes clear the relation between the proposition and the
states of affairs. And it can bring out the true or false picture of
propositions. The logical form is the common structure of all
propositions. Every proposition is analysed into that form, which
can depict the logical form, the essence of all propositions.
Warnock writes that the account of language Wittgenstein gives
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in the TractatusLogico Philosophicusis…………… intended to be

an exposition of the essence of language; an account of its
concealed foundation; an excavation, so to speak, to its deepest
level.”
It is primarily the similarity of the concatenation that makes
anything a picture. All pictures, even the pictures in the ordinary
sense have the form of the objects they picture. There is a
correspondence between a picture and the pictured fact. This
common feature between the picture and the object is indicated
as the form of representation. He writes:
“If a fact is to be a picture, a fact must have something in
common with what it depicts.”
Edward Paul maintaints that there are different kinds of
pictures, different method of projections. But all pictures must
have the same logical form in order to be able to picture reality at
all, either truly or falsely. The logical form is called “the form of
reality.”
Wittgenstein in his picture theory of meaning shows the
correspondence between the picture and the model of reality. He
holds that a proposition is true when the state of affairs reflected
by the picture exists. Otherwise, the proposition will be false. He
in this context lays emphasis on the relation between language
and reality. Reality becomes conspicuous through logical analysis
of language.
The picture theory is an account of the nature of thought.
Wittgenstein writes- ‘A thought is a proposition with a sense’.
Similarly, he points out- ‘The totality of proposition is language’.
Language becomes accessible through thought-process. Again,
the thought-process is related with the logical picture, which is
embedded in the propositions. So, he insists upon analysis of
language into elementary propositions, which represent the
logical picture of reality. It is the underlying structure of the
proposition hidden in the thought process. So, Wittgenstein
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frequently uses words like thought, proposition, language, sense

etc. to radiate the picture theory of meaning.

7.3.2 Philosophy is a Critique of Language

Wittgenstein formulates the picture theory of meaning to

clarify the obscurities in language through logical analysis. The
business of philosophy, according to him, is not to solve the
philosophical problems, but to dissolve them by showing that they
are pseudo problems. So, he views that Philosophy is a critique
of language. Wittgenstein writes:
“Most of the propositions and questions to be found in
philosophical works are not false but non-sensical…………Most
of the propositions and questions of philosophers arise from our
failure to understand the logic of our language.”
Russell clarifies that philosophical problems emerge due
not understanding properly the logical form of language. He
divulges that philosophical problems can be resolved through
grammatical investigation. He asserts that philosophical problems
emerge because certain kinds of philosophical statements are
clothed in misleading grammatical forms.According to him, ‘we
must examine the grammar of the statement. We will find, in
some cases, that when we formulate the statement in terms of
its ‘logical form’, the problem will be solved.” Wittgenstein too in
his earlier work lays much emphasis on grammatical similarity or
surface grammar. His assertion is that philosophical problems
are engendered by surface grammar. Because surface grammar
insists on the similar or uniform structure of propositions, i.e.,
uniform grammatical form.
Wittgenstein through his critique of language has put a
demarcation between ideal language or artificial language or
logical language and colloquial language. He in his
Tractatusinsists on the former, because his view is that ordinary
language creates puzzlement and ambiguities. Again, natural
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language or ordinary language deals with the diverse functions of

language or language games. Therefore, Wittgenstein, in his
Tractatus stops the process of using natural language. Because
he supports only one function of language in his earlier philosophy
i.e., to extract the logical form. He, therefore, corroborate the
logical analysis of language. Because it represents the logical
picture of the world. He believes that propositions are analysed
into elementary propositions that represent the structure of the
facts or the states of affairs.
Russell also employs logical analysis of language to arrive
at the final residue, i.e., atomic propositions which represent the
structure of the world. Russell’s belief is that when a proposition
corresponds to a fact then the corresponding proposition is true.
Otherwise, the proposition will be false. Russell’s approach to get
the picture of reality through analysis is known as logical
atomism. So, there is a similarity in this context between Russell
and earlier Wittgenstein. Because both put importance on logical
analysis of language to focus on the logical form of propositions,
which, they thought, represented the reality.
Wittgenstein’s critique of language asserts that the logical
analysis of language is the strategy through which philosophical
problems can be resolved. The proper task of philosophy is to
clarify the logical form of language. Because it removes the
puzzlement and confusions rooted in philosophy. Thus, he writes-
“Philosophy aims at the logical clarification of thought. Philosophy
is not a body of doctrine but an activity.” He completely abandons
the time-honoured conception of philosophy as the pursuit of
reality and values. The traditional efforts of metaphysicians to find
meaning in their statements on the basis of non-empirical
methods and criteria, i.e., by combining the intuition of self-evident
truths with deductive methods or by postulating the ground work
of metaphysical systems as necessary pre-suppositions of
experience, are rejected.”
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Therefore, it is clear that Wittgenstein is not only a critique

of language but also a critique of traditional philosophical
problems. His critique of language makes it clear that he was a
staunch advocate of logical analysis of language. His main
purpose in his Tractatus is to excavate this form of language.
Logical analysis indicates the pictorial form of language. Because
it can depict the hidden form of language. So, his view is that
when we fail to make a relation between the picture and the fact
then philosophical problems emerge. That is why; he talks about
the importance of logical form of presentations. We are told “The
goal of philosophical critique is the discovery of the real logical
form of language. The logical form is the most important aspect
of language that has to be brought into the open by analysing of
language.”
It can be asserted that propositions cannot represent or
focus the logical form unless it is analysed by the logical analysis
of language. Logical analysis of language reflects the logical form
or hidden structure of propositions. So, he views that it is the
panorama of all propositions. Wittgenstein’s technique of logical
analysis of language can remove the philosophical problems
engendered by linguistic confusions. So, his technique to dissolve
the philosophical problems can be regarded as the therapy. Thus,
his philosophy is therapeutic.

7.4 EVALUATION

The picture theory of language violates the conventions of the

language we use. The sentences of the languages we use are of linear
structure. They are not maps of the facts they describe. This
interpretation thus concedes that the picture theory is inconsistent with
the characteristic feature of language. Maps are no doubt perspicuous
representations. We find in a map or a diagram an ideal case of a one
to one correspondence between a picture and the situation depicted. But

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the essential difference between a map and a proposition is that while the
first one is two dimensional, the latter is one-dimensional. Wittgenstein
describes propositions as pictures. But a proposition may be a picture of
a situation without being a two dimensional structure. So, we are in a
dilemma- if the propositions are one-dimensional structure, they cannot
express all the possible modes of configuration of a given number of
objects; if on the other hand, they are two dimensional structures, then
they cease to be linguistic propositions and become maps. If we accept
the second, it makes the picture theory inconsistent with the general
nature of language.
Wittgenstein in his earlier work has discredited the role of ordinary
language. Instead of ordinary language, he advocates logically perfect
language. But, later Wittgenstein abandons this view of language. He
holds that it will be wrong to say that language follows some fixed rules.
Hence, later Wittgenstein makes a disctinction between surface
grammar and depth grammar. Surface grammar tries to focus on
uniform appearance or structure of a sentence, which leads to logically
perfect language. But later Wittgenstein changes this style of
philosophising in the context of language and views that language is
instrument and has diverse use. Here his view is that philosophical
problems emerge when language goes on holiday. By this metaphorical
sentence, he implies that when words are to be used from outside of
ordinary context, philosophical problems come to light. Hence, it can be
emphatically asserted that Wittgenstein’s later work encompasses
around the circle of ordinary language.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 1: How did picture theory come to

Wittgenstein’s mind?
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Q 2: What is picture theory of meaning?

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Unit 7 Wittgenstein: Picture Theory of Meaning

……………………………………………………………………………………
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Q 3: What is elementary proposition?
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Q 4: What are the other names of elementary proposition?
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Q 5: What is the common structure of all propositions?
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Q 6: Philosophy is a critique of language- write the meaning of the
statement.
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Q 7: Language goes on holiday- write the meaning of the
statement.
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7.5 LET US SUM UP

l Picture theory holds that there is a hidden structure or essence in

every form of propositions or sentences. The picture theory of
meaning came to his mind when he saw in a magazine a
motorcar accident being represented in a law court by means of
small models. They also could be used to construct different
types of propositions for the exposition of the accident.
l Wittgenstein’s picture theory of meaning is a theory of the
meaning of propositions. All propositions are analysed into
ultimate proposition i.e., elementary proposition. This kind of
proposition focuses on the inarticulate structure of proposition. He
asserts that an elementary proposition is constituted by names.

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Wittgenstein: Picture Theory of Meaning Unit 7

An elementary proposition is nothing but the conceptual or logical

structure of propositions.
l Russell clarifies that philosophical problems emerge due not
understanding properly the logical form of language. He divulges
that philosophical problems can be resolved through grammatical
investigation. He asserts that philosophical problems emerge
because certain kinds of philosophical statements are clothed in
misleading grammatical forms.
l Wittgenstein is not only a critique of language but also a critique
of traditional philosophical problems. His critique of language
makes it clear that he was a staunch advocate of logical analysis
of language. His main purpose in his Tractatus is to excavate this
form of language.
l Wittgenstein holds that our natural language or colloquial language
cannot express the logical form of language. Thus, Wittgenstein
feels that an artificial language or symbolic language or logical
language is required to disclose the inward form of thought, which
is regarded as the essence of proposition.

7.6 FURTHER READINGS

1) Dwivedi, D.N. (1977). A study of Wittgenstein’s Philosophy. Darshan

peeth,177 Tagore Town, and Allahabad
2) Ammerman, Robert R (ed.) (1965) Classics of Analytic Philosophy
(Tata McGraw- Hill Publishing Company, Bombay- New Delhi
3) Bakhle, S.W. (1987). Nature and Development of Linguistic
Philosophy. Dattsons- Nagpur 1)
4) Bhattacharyya, Bhaskar (2014). Analytic Philosophy of Wittgenstein.
EBH Publishers India (Ltd)

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