Variable Names and Constant Names in Wittgenstein's Tractatus
Article first published online: 25 JAN 2005
Volume 28, Issue 1, pages 14–42, January 2005
How to Cite
Cheung, L. K. C. (2005), Variable Names and Constant Names in Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Philosophical Investigations, 28: 14–42. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9205.2005.00239.x
- Issue published online: 25 JAN 2005
- Article first published online: 25 JAN 2005
In this paper, I argue that the Tractatus classifies names into constant names and variable names. A variable name, via the application of the existential quantifier against the background of picturing, picks out and denotes an unspecified object from the range of objects of the form shown by the relevant variable. A constant name labels an object picked out from a scope of the existential quantifier. I also refute two types of attempts to argue that the Tractarian relation between a name and its meaning is not realist, and to explain why it is more reasonable to hold that it is.