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Full Idea
Analysis makes the statement more complicated than it was; but it cannot and ought not to make it more complicated than its meaning (Bedeutung) was to begin with. When the statement is as complex as its meaning, then it is completely analysed.
Gist of Idea
Analysis complicates a statement, but only as far as the complexity of its meaning
Source
Ludwig Wittgenstein (Notebooks 1914-1916 [1915], 46e)
Book Ref
Wittgenstein,Ludwig: 'Notebooks 1914-1916 (2nd ed)' [Blackwell 1979], p.46
A Reaction
But how do you assess how complex the 'Bedeutung' was before you started?
| 6563 | 'And' and 'not' are non-referring terms, which do not represent anything [Wittgenstein, by Fogelin] |
| 23481 | Propositions assemble a world experimentally, like the model of a road accident [Wittgenstein] |
| 23500 | My main problem is the order of the world, and whether it is knowable a priori [Wittgenstein] |
| 22323 | The philosophical I is the metaphysical subject, the limit - not a part of the world [Wittgenstein] |
| 18276 | A statement's logical form derives entirely from its constituents [Wittgenstein] |
| 16908 | We can dispense with self-evidence, if language itself prevents logical mistakes [Jeshion on Wittgenstein] |
| 18274 | Analysis complicates a statement, but only as far as the complexity of its meaning [Wittgenstein] |
| 4678 | Absolute prohibitions are the essence of ethics, and suicide is the most obvious example [Wittgenstein] |
| 23472 | The sense of propositions relies on the world's basic logical structure [Wittgenstein] |