Full Idea
We are accustomed to look on a machine as the expression of a rule of movement.
Gist of Idea
A machine strikes us as being a rule of movement
Source
Ludwig Wittgenstein (Lectures 1930-32 (student notes) [1931], B VII.2)
Book Reference
Wittgenstein,Ludwig: 'Lectures in Cambridge 1930-32', ed/tr. Lee,Desmond [Blackwell 1980], p.40
A Reaction
What a beautiful definition of a machine! I like this because it connects the two halves of my view of the 'essence' of a thing, as derived from Aristotle, as both a causal mechanism and an underlying principle. Cf Turing machines.