<p> In the mid 1920s, reflecting the concerns of the "<i>Sprachkrise </i>", Ludwig Wittgenstein and Franz Kafka composed writings deeply concerned with language's ability to express human thought. In his <i>Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus</i>, Wittgenstein attempted to draw the boundary of meaningful language. During the same period, Kafka developed his thoughts on language and ethics in his <i>Oktavhefte</i>. I compare these works, showing that they share an understanding of language as a domain bound within the physical world and incapable of expressing our spiritual being. Presenting itself as rigorous philosophical writing, Wittgenstein's <i> Tractatus</i> constantly reminds its reader of the limitations of its own logical and philosophical language by claiming itself to be "nonsense" and only a ladder the reader should climb and get rid of. Kafka, without constructing rigorous logical arguments, composed a critique demonstrating the unnaturalness of natural language and showing that its poetic nature lets language transcend its own boundaries.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1552100 |
| Date | 08 March 2014 |
| Creators | Xin, Yuchen |
| Publisher | University of Colorado at Boulder |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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