In his work called Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Wittgenstein ends his book with the stunning phrase: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent”. Although this phrase of his has deeply affected me and my thinking, it is quite ironic that what I am doing right now contradicts with the literal meaning of the phrase, that is choosing not to be silent in interpreting Wittgenstein, and writing about it. However, I cannot stop myself from sharing some of his notes and his thinking along this Wittgenstein Series that I intend to write.
To get back to the phrase, Wittgenstein was initially interpreted as trying to narrow down the problems that philosophy engages with by limiting it to the observable; where supernatural concepts like God, beauty, justice, love were to be avoided, because it was meaningless to do so. However, his later notes reveal a different reality. Wittgenstein not only believes that such concepts are essential in being a human, but speaking of them degrades and cheapens our intuitive understanding of these concepts. Therefore, other means of expression take over when the capacity of language cannot withstand the significance of such concepts and the weightiness of human emotions. Hence when words fail to express, other forms of art (as in poetry) and culture (as in various rituals) take over.