back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 13830

[from 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus' by Ludwig Wittgenstein, in 5. Theory of Logic / I. Semantics of Logic / 3. Logical Truth ]

Full Idea

Wittgenstein's by-product theory is that the meanings of the logical constants are conveyed by their introduction rules, and these rules have as a by-product the class of logical truths.

Gist of Idea

Logical truths are just 'by-products' of the introduction rules for logical constants

Source

report of Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [1921]) by Ian Hacking - What is Logic? §03

Book Reference

'A Philosophical Companion to First-Order Logic', ed/tr. Hughes,R.I.G. [Hackett 1993], p.228


A Reaction

I find this approach highly plausible. All the truths about chess openings are just a by-product of the original rules.