"State Of Affairs" And "image": From "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" To "Philosophical Investigations

Wittgenstein’s philosophical turn is a long-standing topic in the study of Wittgenstein’s philosophy.However,most of the related research so far has focused on directly exploring the differences between its earlier and later propositions,and has seldom made any comments on its unification.This research attempts to use the contradiction between the two key concepts in Wittgenstein’s early philosophy,namely "state of affairs" and "picture" as an entry point,seeks to clarify the underlying logic of Wittgenstein’s philosophical turn,and at the same time focuses on "state of affairs",the multiple aspects of this concept try to identify the key points that constitute the intersection of its earlier and later ideas,in order to outline the unified face of Wittgenstein’s philosophy as a whole.Therefore,to find out the deep causes of Wittgenstein’s pre-post turn and to understand the internal correlation contained in his pre-post thinking together constitute the purpose and goal of this research.In order to achieve this goal,this paper has carried out innovative interpretations and elaborations on the two representative works of Wittgenstein before and after the later period,namely Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations,and strives to be based on the overall grasp,Tracing between the lines and penetrating Wittgenstein’s complex and profound thought trail.At the beginning of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,Wittgenstein first introduced his basic idea(or "theory of the state of affairs")on the "relationship between objects and states of affairs",and based on this,he extended the famous "picture theory".The latter is often regarded as successfully embodying the core ideas of Wittgenstein’s early philosophy.However,this article will point out that through further reading of the text,it can be found that there is in fact an insurmountable logical barrier between "state of affairs theory" and "picture theory" : on the one hand,pictures have diagrams corresponding to facts because of their;on the other hand,pictures also exist in the logical structure of the real world as a special fact.Therefore,there is a double association between a picture and the actual object it corresponds to.But when we try to paint a new second-order picture of how that picture relates to other real objects,this double association often creates intractable contradictions in the new picture.This article focuses on analyzing the internal rationale for the formation of this contradiction,and attempts to point out that it is this contradiction that constitutes a potential motive for Wittgenstein’s later major ideological turn,and as a whole constitutes our grasp and understanding of Wittgenstein’s later philosophy.(especially Philosophical Investigations)the ideological background that cannot be ignored.This article will point out that when Wittgenstein faced the contradiction between state of affairs theory and picture theory in the early stage,he had already chosen to stick to the former and reject the latter in a potential way,which initially showed his ideological appeal of mysticism.Later,this tendency was transformed into its unique perspective of analyzing linguistic phenomena based on "forms of life" from an implicit existential dimension.This perspective places the "human" as a language user in the overall situation of the practical life world to examine,thus forming the unique philosophical method and thinking style of the later Wittgenstein.It is the result of creatively deepening and transforming the "state of affairs theory" in Wittgenstein’s earlier thought.Accordingly,critically developing the original thought on the relationship between "object and basic state of affairs" constitutes a key thread that runs through Wittgenstein’s philosophy before and after,and it is also an important coordinate what we can use to explore the unity of Wittgenstein’s philosophy.With the help of the coordinates of "theory of the state of affairs" and its variants,we may be able to develop a whole new dimension in understanding Wittgenstein’s philosophical turn and the relevance of his thinking before and after.