Tractarian Functions are not Propositional Functions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21451375 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Clare Hay (0000-0001-6160-7891, University of Reading, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-19 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Philosophy of Logic (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0144-5340 • E-ISSN: 1464-5149 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01445340.2025.2509386 |
| OpenAlex | W4411572466 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
The central claim is that in the Tractatus Wittgenstein refuses Russell's notion of propositional function, and Russell's notions of range of significance and types for variables. Drawing on Russell's notion of well-defined function, for which all values are given in advance, Wittgenstein takes a different approach, that propositions realise a common characteristic, the general form, this being definitional of the propositional. This common characteristic is a formal concept, an Urbild (prototype), demonstrable by definition by abstraction. What is novel is the delimitation of the notion of a function fx in 5.501, and the argument showing that the general form, which Wittgenstein regards as a variable, is immanent to its realisations
Discrete mathematics · Epistemology · Propositional calculus · Propositional formula · Propositional variable · Artificial Intelligence · Chemical synthesis and alkaloids · Computer Science · Mathematics · Philosophy
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
A Wittgenstein Dictionary
Mathematical Logic as Based on the Theory of Types
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
The Tractarian Operation N and Expressive Completeness
Generality, Truth Functions, and Expressive Capacity in the Tractatus
Representation and Reality in Wittgenstein's “Tractatus.”
Prototractatus
"A Companion to Wittgenstein's "Tractatus
Russell's multiple relation theory of judgment
| Highly cited | No |
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