more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
On white paper, the fact that a point is black corresponds to a positive fact; to the fact that a point is white (not black), a negative fact.
Gist of Idea
On white paper a black spot is a positive fact and a white spot a negative fact
Source
Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [1921], 4.063), quoted by Michael Potter - The Rise of Analytic Philosophy 1879-1930 08 'Judg'
Book Ref
Potter,Michael: 'The Rise of Anaytic Philosophy 1879-1930' [Routledge 2020], p.55
A Reaction
Elsewhere Wittgenstein is ambiguous as to whether he believes in negative facts [qv].
22316 | A positive and negative fact have the same constituents; their difference is primitive [Russell] |
22315 | There can't be a negative of a complex, which is negated by its non-existence [Potter on Russell] |
22312 | Facts can be both positive and negative [Wittgenstein, by Potter] |
22311 | The world is determined by the facts, and there are no further facts [Wittgenstein] |
22313 | The existence of atomic facts is a positive fact, their non-existence a negative fact [Wittgenstein] |
22314 | On white paper a black spot is a positive fact and a white spot a negative fact [Wittgenstein] |