Single Idea 13133

[catalogued under 7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 1. Nature of Existence]

Full Idea

The world is the totality of facts, not of things. The world is determined by the facts, and by their being all the facts. The totality of facts determines what is the case, and what is not the case. ..The world divides into facts.

Gist of Idea

The world is facts, not things. Facts determine the world, and the world divides into facts

Source

Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [1921], 1 - 1.2)

Book Reference

Wittgenstein,Ludwig: 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Pears)', ed/tr. Pears,D. /McGuinness,B. [RKP 1961], p.5


A Reaction

This is said to be a radical new ontology, because the facts are held to be prior to the things and their properties, which are presumably abstractions from the primitive facts. The modern heir of this is Armstrong's 'states of affairs'.