The Mechanics of Meaning

Propositional Content and the Logical Space of Wittgenstein's Tractatus

David Hyder

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9783110172188
• eBook ISBN: 9783110889130
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Language in Philosophy

This analysis of Wittgenstein's concept of a Spielraum, in which the author approaches the Tractatus Logico-philosophicus both systematically and from the perspective of the history of philosophy and knowledge, opens up a new and important perspective in Wittgenstein research.

In establishing unexpected cross-connections between physics, the theory of perception, and logic, Hyder also makes a valuable contribution to the history of 19th century science. In particular, the links he establishes between early sensory physiology and the logicism of Russell and Frege yield a sharper and more plausible account of the notion of a "space" of possible meanings than has hitherto been available in the secondary literature. In showing this notion to be a formal precursor to that of a language game, the study also provides important pointers for the interpretation of Wittgenstein's late work.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Notation
• 1. Introduction
• 1.1 Russell’s Theory of Judgment
• 1.2 Scientific Epistemology and the Theory of Manifolds
• 1.3 Interpreting Wittgenstein’s Later Philosophy
• 2. Helmholtz’s Perceptual Manifold
• 2.1 Manifolds and Perception
• 2.2 “The Facts in Perception”
• 2.3 “The Application of the Axioms to the Physical World“
• 2.4 Pre-established Harmony
• 3. Russell’s Theory of Judgment
• 3.1 The Origins and Purpose of Russell’s Judgment-theory
• 3.2 Wittgenstein’s Objections
• 3.3 Constraints on Judgment
• 4. The Breakdown of Wittgenstein’s Copula-theory
• 4.1 The Copula-theory
• 4.2 The ε-copula and the Propositional Form
• 4.3 The Early Picture Theory
• 4.4 Wittgenstein’s “Correct Theory of Propositions”
• 5. Logical Space
• 5.1 Truth-functions and the “Core Logical Space”
• 5.2 Manifolds and Quantification: 4.04-4.0411
• 6. The Picture-theories of Helmholtz, Hertz and Wittgenstein
• 6.1 The No-man’s-land
• 6.2 Physical Science
• 6.3 Models and Manifolds
• 7. Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index
• Concordance of Passages from the Tractatus
• Concordance of Entries in the Notebooks: 1914–1916