Considerations on mystical, ineffability and silence as elements of a philosophy of religion in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to consider the mystical, the ineffability and the silence in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, with a view to identifying a possible philosophy of religion. To this end, the picture theory is first presented, which serves as a fundamental presupposition for understanding the unfolding of this work. The picture theory seeks to elucidate the nature of propositions. A proposition is constituted as a picture of a possible state of affairs, i.e. a proposition projects its meaning and provides V or F truth conditions. Secondly, the limits of propositionality are presented, namely tautologies and contradictions, as well as transgressions of the limits of what can be said, namely nonsenses or pseudo-propositions. Finally, based on these theoretical presuppositions, the unfolding of Wittgenstein’s theses on the picture theory at the level of the mystical is presented. For Wittgenstein, the mystical refers to the inexpressible. The ineffability of certain themes such as logic, ethics, aesthetics and God leads to a prudent silent contemplation, i.e. of what cannot be said but is shown. It is precisely in the realm of the mystical that we can find elements of a philosophy of religion in the Tractatus.