Quotation
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“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein · Analytic philosophy · Modern · 1921
What does it mean?
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. Proposition 7, in the Ogden translation Wittgenstein knew, is the book's conclusion. Pears and McGuinness say we must pass over in silence what we cannot speak about. Both translate the same German. A rival reading takes the line as a rule of politeness, or as a ban on ethics. He thinks some things are shown rather than said, and the book's own ethical pressure sits in the refusal, not in a further paragraph of doctrine. Silence can also be a gap in courage.
Did Ludwig Wittgenstein really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. The last proposition, in the Ogden translation that Wittgenstein knew. Pears and McGuinness: 'What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence.' Both are translations of the same German. The line is the book's conclusion, not a proverb about politeness.
Where it comes from
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, proposition 7
Approximate date: 1921.
How to use it
There are moments, in a family row or in a tribunal, to stop explaining. His reason is specific. Yours may be that you are afraid, or that the other person is being harmed by the talk. Do not borrow his authority for mere avoidance, and do not borrow it to shut someone else up.
A mindset reading
Proposition 7 is an ending after a long argument. Without the argument it is a costume. The ladder remark, just before it, says the propositions were to be climbed and thrown away. The silence is what the climb was for.
Understand the philosophy
The line is not a proverb about manners. It is the last move in a book about the limits of saying. The Investigations will find a great deal to say about ordinary language. That later talk does not rewrite this ending. It leaves it.
- knowledge
- meaning
- ethics
FAQ
What does it mean?
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. Proposition 7, in the Ogden translation Wittgenstein knew, is the book's conclusion. Pears and McGuinness say we must pass over in silence what we cannot speak about. Both translate the same German. A rival reading takes the line as a rule of politeness, or as a ban on ethics. He thinks some things are shown rather than said, and the book's own ethical pressure sits in the refusal, not in a further paragraph of doctrine. Silence can also be a gap in courage.
Did Ludwig Wittgenstein really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. The last proposition, in the Ogden translation that Wittgenstein knew. Pears and McGuinness: 'What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence.' Both are translations of the same German. The line is the book's conclusion, not a proverb about politeness.
Which work is it in?
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, proposition 7 Approximate date: 1921.