Explaining Quotations from Ludwig Wittgenstein

[Justine A.]

What are the important things that we can learn from the thoughts of Ludwig Wiitgenstein about language, its limitation and use?

May you also please explain the following quotations from him:

"Everyday Language  is a part of human organism and is no less complicated than it. It is not humanly possible to gather immediately from it what the logic of the language. Language disguises thought."

"At some point, one has to pass from explanation to mere description”

"If the good or bad exercise of the will does alter the world, it can only alter the limits of the world not the facts-not what can be expressed by expressed by means of language. In short, the effect must be that it becomes altogether different world. It must, so to speak, wax and wane as a whole.The world of the happy man is different from that of unhappy man"

"What we cannot speak about must pass over in silence”

The above quotations  seem to be  presented elegantly but difficult to understand but I hope you explain them to us.

[Joe Carillo]

Yes, you've presented a particularly difficult passage from Ludwig Wittgenstein. I myself am at a loss as to what he meant to say, and after making several unsuccessful attempts to interpret the passage, I must admit that I'm not inclined to hazard a guess. Perhaps a more astute member of the Forum--one more familiar with Wittgenstein's thinking--would be in a better position to make an interpretation.

[Justine A.]

I miss to ask this question: Why did you choose this passage from Wittgenstein for Jose Carillo's English Forum web page:"The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for?"

[Joe Carillo]

“The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for.”

I chose that passage from Ludwig Wittgenstein as epigraph for the Forum because it captures the essence and function of words, thoughts, knowledge, language, and communication—all five of them together—in clear and unpretentious but highly emphatic terms.

[Justine A.]

With the consent of my two good friends, I am sharing their interpretations of the above passages from Wittgenstein with some additional passages:

"The limits of my language are the limits of my mind what I have are what language for."

Vocabulary and the use of language is only used as far as it has use… For example, English has many overly-complicated words which have simpler, easier to use versions… According to this, using the more complicated version is pointless and would not be considered language… Perhaps because language is mostly expressed as voiced-words…

"Everyday Language  is a part of human organism and is no less complicated than it. It is not humanly possible to gather immediately from it what the logic of the language. Language disguises thought."

This one is fun… It means that there can be, likely is, and should be, multiple layers of meanings in simple statements… Language can be used to send a message that would otherwise be easier to relay via action… Use poems as an example…

"A picture is a model of reality."

No matter how close a picture is to the original, it is still just a copy… However, this does not necessarily mean it is inferior…

"What we cannot speak about must pass over in silence.”

Some statements is better left implied than explicitly declared.

"If the good or bad exercise of the will does alter the world, it can only alter the limits of the world not the facts-not what can be expressed by expressed by means of language. In short, the effect must be that it becomes altogether different world. It must, so to speak, wax and wane as a whole.The world of the happy man is different from that of unhappy man."

Humans tend to be extremely gullible… Words have power they say… Basically, this statement is talking about self-hypnosis… If you bring yourself to believe that you did well in the exam, then regardless of the result, you would feel accomplished… Believing would not change the outcome, you would still fail, but nonetheless, you feel like you achieved something… And that is the secret to happiness.

"At some point, one has to pass from explanation to mere description.”

If you want to train a person to think for himself, then you teach him how the world works, you explain the how cause leads to effect, and the many variables found between… Though you would eventually form a person, capable of analysis, data synthesis, and event prediction, you have also created a person with a different perspective of the world than you… Eventually, this person would develop his own form of reality, his own version of cause and effect… This person will be another, yet different, you… Sometimes it is better to outright tell them what will happen rather than show them how it happens…

"The world is all that is the case."

Have you watched Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood? Watch, the episode wherein they were stuck on an island and told to discover the truth of the universe by their mentor… this will start making sense…

Nothing happens without a cause, very few things happen without a reason, and there are no coincidences… Everything is connected, everything is one, one is all, all is contained within all of us…

(Continued in the next panel)

[Justine A.]

"The limits of my language are the limits of my mind what I have are what language for."

Language, be it spoken or shown, is a standard set by humans; one can develop as many ideas as their mind allows, yet they are limited as to how much they can make others know of it. And a person is only able to understand from others, from what their known language is able to translate to their mind, from what they observe from others.

If a person has an idea, without a way to let another person know of it, then the knowledge stops there. Anyone who could have been able to make use of it will never even know. No one would be able to certify if it is an idea that may change the world or not.

Note: If you have trouble understanding the above sentences, then that is because the explanation I have for you is being limited by the words that I am able to use and make you understand, which is the point of all this.

"Everyday Language is a part of human organism and is no less complicated than it. It is not humanly possible to gather immediately from it what the logic of the language. Language disguises thought."
      
Language conveys thoughts, though it isn’t a perfect system to address it.
.

"A picture is a model of reality."

Reality itself can be represented in pictures, though a picture is only a representation of reality; it merely borrows the form, from the thoughts of its source. As such, what it contains may or may not be in line with reality.

"What we cannot speak about must pass over in silence.”

What we cannot, or perhaps “not being capable to speak about”, will pass its time as mere silence. Without a language, or a coherent way to make thoughts come alive, it will eventually die in the form of silence.

"If the good or bad exercise of the will does alter the world, it can only alter the limits of the world not the facts-not what can be expressed by expressed by means of language. In short, the effect must be that it becomes altogether different world. It must, so to speak, wax and wane as a whole. The world of the happy man is different from that of unhappy man."

The world may change, but remain one and the same. It is influenced by the events that take place in there, but never become a separate identity from what it once was. The world has a set of rules (limits), which can only be manipulated.

"At some point, one has to pass from explanation to mere description.”

From the idea behind it, to what it does, and eventually to what it is.

People learn to simplify things; they familiarize themselves at something, by attributing certain characteristics of an object, behavior, or event.

Note: Think of a pencil, being a writing instrument, and then the mechanics of it. Now, disregarding the object being a pencil, think of it from the mechanics of it (the explanation/idea), to being a writing material (description/what it does).

"The world is all that is the case."

The world, being one, is the basis of truth… which is comprised of everything that is real.