Wittgenstein on Logic and Language

In this paper, we are going to survey the relation of language and logic from the viewpoint of Ludwig Wittgenstein. To do so, we will concentrate on his most important books: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Philosophical Investigations and On Certainty. First, we will describe this relation in the Tractatus and will view its consequences. For instance, giving up essentialist views about language and devoting on a posteriori investigation are among the most important consequences. Then, we will reconstruct this relation with the aid of his Philosophical Investigations. From this point of view, logic does not come prior to language but it is a product of its practice. After that, we will hint on an anthropological investigation on Azande tribe confirming Wittgenstein’s later stance. At the end, we will borrow the concept “world-picture” from his On Certainty to answer some probable questions. We are going to show that logic is a constituent part of every community’s world-picture.