The [fantasy] Vienna School for Truth Exploration
was founded by Ludwig Wittgenstein in 1918 [the
Tractatus"s Preface date]. Its aim: Prepare students for
exploring the world and its reality. Its textbook: The famous
Tractatus. Its motto: "Argue or Agree!" The School has a
peculiar aura of back-to-the-future, since its students have
already been to a mid-nineteen forties Ludwig
Wittgenstein"s lectures at Cambridge. It may get confusing,
as these "two" philosophers happen to have exactly the
same name. The students" names are Greek letters,
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc. [In this paper, all the characters,
including Wittgenstein, are fictitious. Sometimes they are
the Tractatus Wittgenstein, sometimes they are the
Investigations one, and often they are I]

Hijab, Wasfi A.

English

Elektronisch archivierte Theorie - Sammelpunkt

  84 
The Vienna School for Truth Exploration* 
 
Wasfi A. Hijab, Beirut 
 
 
Preamble 
The [fantasy] Vienna School for Truth Exploration 
was founded by Ludwig Wittgenstein in 1918 [the 
Tractatus’s Preface date]. Its aim: Prepare students for 
exploring the world and its reality. Its textbook: The famous 
Tractatus. Its motto: ‘Argue or Agree!1’ The School has a 
peculiar aura of back-to-the-future, since its students have 
already been to a mid-nineteen forties Ludwig 
Wittgenstein’s lectures at Cambridge. It may get confusing, 
as these ‘two’ philosophers happen to have exactly the 
same name. The students’ names are Greek letters, 
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc. [In this paper, all the characters, 
including Wittgenstein, are fictitious. Sometimes they are 
the Tractatus Wittgenstein, sometimes they are the 
Investigations one, and often they are I]. 
 
1. Students are all eager to learn 
Wittgenstein: “Welcome to our school. Our aim is 
to prepare you for a career in truth exploration. The school 
will also conduct field trips in your training. I have prepared 
for you fill-in-the-blanks forms that list all possible states of 
affairs. In your field trips, all you have to do is to observe 
the world and indicate which state of affairs exists and 
which does not. This will provide you with all the facts. 
Indeed, the world is nothing but the totality of these facts. 
Now, does anyone have a question or a comment about 
our objectives or about our methodology?” 
Alpha: "I would like, Sir, to start by indicating our 
reason for preferring your school over others. When your 
family asked you why did you want to do philosophy, you 
told them it was because you wanted to find the truth. 
Indeed, you have pursued that goal with the utmost of 
seriousness and with no ax to grind. Most other 
philosophers, for most of the time, carried out their 
investigations in order to support a religious belief, a 
political theory, or simply to maintain a livelihood. On the 
other, you have been ultra pure in seeking the truth for its 
own sake.” 
Beta: "Just look at what you are planning to do, 
after you had written the book that embodied all the truth 
as you found it. You are now determined to give away all 
your immense wealth, and to prepare for a teaching 
position in an elementary school.” 
Gamma: "I have a general comment, Sir, about 
your book. In introducing his article ‘On Certainty’2, your 
Cambridge namesake raised the following question, ‘How 
does one know how to set about satisfying oneself on the 
existence of unicorns.’3 The mere raising of the question 
alerts us to the immense difficulty of finding the truth about 
even such a simple matter as to the existence of a myth. 
My question, Sir, is how on earth were you able to observe 
the whole world and decide that it is the totality of facts, 
and not of things [Tractatus 1.1]?” 
                                                     
1 This is the motto of the Cambridge University Moral Sciences [i.e. 
philosophy] Club 
2 Wittgenstein, L.: On Certainty. Harper Torchbooks, 1969. 
3 Wittgenstein (ibid) 
Beta: "Not only what you are saying, Sir, but the 
utmost confidence in what you are saying. ‘ … the truth of 
the thoughts that are here communicated seems to me 
unassailable and definitive.’ [Tractatus’s Preface.]” 
Alpha: "Also, Sir, the way you have expressed 
yourself in sentences that are as hard as nails and as 
knocks of destiny. Is the Tractatus a new Book of Genesis, 
or what?” 
Beta: "We are wondering, Sir, whether you had 
utilized any equipment in your search for the truth. A 
telescope, a microscope, or, may be, a slide rule4.” 
Wittgenstein: “Since I am the professor here, may 
be I’ll be permitted to put in a word edgewise!” 
Alpha, Beta & Gamma: "Sir, Sir, Sir, all of this is 
because we are so frustrated while reading our textbook. 
We do not seem to have a handle on how to understand it. 
It has the tone of a scientific investigation, but it actually 
sounds so mystical!” 
 
2. How to read the Tractatus: (i) in levels of 
logical importance & (ii) backwards! 
Wittgenstein: “Now, I see your difficulty. I can give 
you two pieces of advice on how to read our text. My first 
advice is that you should not read it as a continuous 
stream. Begin with reading only seven sentences, the ones 
indicated by the numbers from 1 to 7, without decimals. 
Then read these sentences together with their first 
comments, e.g.,1.1, 1.2, …, 2.1, 2.2, … and so on. Then 
read all the above, together with second level comments 
that have a second decimal digit numbering, e.g., 2.35, 
and so on. This will keep you aware of the various levels of 
importance of the various statements.” 
Alpha: "This is very interesting, Sir. What is your 
second advice?” 
Wittgenstein: “My second advise is that you should 
read the book backwards! May be not completely 
backwards. Start with Section 5, then go to 4, etc., until 
you reach Section 1. In my student days, I started as an 
engineering student, then went on to the field of 
mathematical logic, while it was being created. I believe I 
did make a modest contribution to its creation. This led me 
to thinking about the nature of propositions, and how 
propositions are used to express the facts of the natural 
sciences. I asked myself, ‘How should the world be like in 
order to make it possible for propositions of natural science 
to be true or false, and to express facts when they are 
true?’ So, I began a journey of abstraction through 
successive suppression of dimensions: Abstracting from 
language, then abstracting from thought, then abstracting 
from us making to ourselves pictures of facts, until I 
reached the ultimate rock of states of affairs. I said to 
myself, ‘This is the rock on which I can build my system.’” 
Alpha: “Wow! How fascinating! You make it all 
sound so simple and straightforward. Then, Sir, did you 
write the book backwoods?” 
                                                     
4 In his engineering years, Wittgenstein must have sported a slide rule. No 
calculators or computers were available at that time 
* Part 1 of a planned book on Wittgenstein´s Tractatus 
The Vienna School for Truth Rxploration - Wasfi A. Hijab 
 
 
 85
Wittgenstein: “Alpha, don’t be silly, you make me 
laugh! Of course not. Then I followed with an opposite 
journey of reconstruction: Adding dimension after 
dimension, in the opposite order in which they were 
suppressed.” 
Beta: "In effect, Sir, you have touched upon all the 
branches of traditional philosophy: From ontology, to 
epistemology, to philosophy of mind, etc. Our text is a full-
fledged traditional metaphysics!” 
Wittgenstein: “Beta, I think I resent your remark. I 
believe my book solves all problems of traditional 
philosophy, rather than being one.” 
Beta: “I am sorry, Sir. I beg you to postpone this 
issue until later. Gamma has been screaming for his turn 
to speak.” 
 
3. Totality of facts exhibits Barber´s 
Paradox 
Gamma: "Sir, I have a problem with your 
insistence that we should, in addition to knowing the facts, 
also know that this is the totality of all the facts. Shall we 
say, for argument's sake, that there are a hundred facts, 
f1, f2, .., f100. Further, let us agree that F = ‘There are 
exactly 100 facts’. Is F a fact? If F is a fact, then it is a fact 
that is outside the totality of facts, and therefore it is not a 
fact. If F is not a fact, then it is a fact has to be included in 
the totality of facts, and therefore it is a fact. This is 
analogous to the Barber paradox.” 
Alpha: "In 2001 Wittgenstein Symposium, a paper5 
was presented that showed how to resolve such 
paradoxes. I wonder if this paradox can be resolved in the 
same way.” 
 
4. When is the Barber´s Paradox 
unresolvable? 
Gamma: "No, the totality of facts paradox cannot 
be resolved similarly. Actually, if we take the barber’s 
definition to be: B1 = ‘The barber shaves all those who do 
not shave themselves throughout the universe’, then the 
B1 paradox is no longer resolvable. This is why: The new 
universe of discourse has no boundary, and the barber 
cannot be evicted outside it. That is why it is more 
suggestive to call the paradox ‘Barber of Seville’s’ rather 
than ‘Barber’s’. I trust you recall how this paradox was 
resolved. The barber was evicted out of Seville, and his 
definition was then restricted to be B2: The barber outside 
the new smaller universe of discourse. ‘Other than himself, 
the barber shaves all those who do not shave themselves.’ 
Now, if we are asked, ‘Does the barber shave himself?’ we 
can say, ‘We do not know; we have not been told!’ Clearly, 
the totality of facts paradox is similar to B1, as no 
boundary was established for the world, and is therefore 
unresolvable.” 
Wittgenstein: “I must admit that you have made 
your point very clear. I will rebut it later. Now I’ll hand you 
your homework for the weekend. This form lists all the 
possible states of affairs, all 200 of them." You go forth 
and explore the truth: Find out which of these states of 
affairs exists, and which does not exist. The ones that exist 
are the facts. This way we get to know the totality of facts, 
which is obviously the world. Good hunting!” 
                                                     
5 Wittgenstein´s Missing Map, by Wasfi A. Hijab, appeared in ALWS 
Contributions Vol. IX 
[The students come to class after the weekend, 
but they are all excited and cannot settle down.] 
Wittgenstein: “Now, what is the problem? Let us all 
sit down and begin collecting your homework.” 
All the students: “Sir, Sir, Alfa discovered a new fact!” 
Wittgenstein: “What you are saying is impossible!” 
Alpha: "Sir, I saw the two hundred and one state of 
affairs, and it existed, So, that is a new fact, Sir!” 
 
5. Gamma recalls his childhood chess 
Gamma: "When I was a young boy, Sir, I used to 
love playing chess. After I grew up, I was shocked to find 
out that my childhood play was illegal! At the first move of 
each side, we used to permit ourselves to move two 
pawns, each one square forward. Later I came to realize 
that this was not permitted by the international chess rules 
committee. Now, Sir, I am wondering whether your world 
facts are rules of the game or moves in that game.” 
Wittgenstein: “Now, Gamma, what is this sophistry. 
A fact is a fact!” 
Beta: "May I, Sir, present a specific example. Say 
that Fischer in his game against Spassky moved his king 
one square to the right at his tenth move. This is a piece of 
chess news. If I say, ‘The king of chess moves one square 
at a time,’ this is a second piece of chess news for those 
engaged in learning the game. The first news could have 
been different, and; therefore it is a contingent fact. The 
second news could not have been different, therefore it is 
a necessary (tautological) fact.” 
Alpha: "Sir, I do not want to be left out of this 
interesting discussion. Let us assume that I am a big shot 
in the world of chess, and I call for an open meeting of the 
chess rules committee to consider adopting Gamma’s 
childhood chess rule variation. In the committee’s meeting, 
chess rules are robbed their necessity status, and have 
become contingent facts, and subject to modification.” 
Gamma: "Every game has two language levels: 
The object language level, and the metalanguage level. At 
the object level, those egged in using the language follow 
the rules of the game, as the Cambridge Wittgenstein 
would say, but never speak of them. If a reporter at a 
chess match says: ’The white king just now moved one 
square! (which happens to be a chess rule)’ he is liable to 
be fired on the spot. His remark is ridiculous and, at best, a 
silly an tasteless joke.” 
Beta: "I presume this is, Sir, what the Tractatus 7 
is meant to indicate, in your strikes of destiny style: 
‘Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain 
silent. 6 
Gamma: "In the metalanguage of chess, everyday 
language in this case, one may comment on the object 
language and speak about its rules.” 
 
                                                     
6 My own rendering, I believe. 
The Vienna School for Truth Rxploration - Wasfi A. Hijab 
 
 
 86 
6. Third mistake: The dichotomy fallacy 
Alpha: "May we consider, Sir, the genus/species 
distinction, which is usually associated with biological 
classification? I do think, Sir, that it also plays an important 
though role in abstraction. For example, the proposal ‘It is 
raining’, with no affirmation intended, is really a genus, and 
true and false are the differentia that generate the two 
statements: (i) ‘It is raining!’ and (ii) ‘It is not raining!’. The 
dichotomy fallacy is the unstable oscillation between the 
genus and between the positive species. I wonder, Sir, 
whether I presented this idea in a clear fashion.” 
[It is raining. (proposal)] (1) 
    ↑             ______↓______ 
Which is the fact? →           ↓                         ↓ 
                  ↓ 
                             →  [It is raining!] (2)    It is not! 
   Figure 1. Dichotomy Fallacy: Oscillation between (1) & (2). 
Beta: "Alpha, I think you did alright. It is a fine 
point, and probably no one can do any better.” 
Wittgenstein: “Can anyone explain what Alpha is 
trying to say?” 
Gamma: "I’ll try, Sir. Your state of affairs is really 
the possibility for a fact, and it becomes a fact when it 
exists. In your presentation, Sir, a fact is often confused 
with its corresponding state of affairs. Alpha is proposing 
the name of ‘dichotomy fallacy’ for this conceptual flaw.” 
Alpha: "I believe, Sir, that flaw often appears in 
well-established contexts. However, in such contexts we 
can easily correct the situation, as there will morally be 
enough criteria to isolate the genus from its positive 
species.” 
Alpha: "At the high level of abstraction in the 
Tractatus, we have no possibility of escaping this fallacy. 
We have no rudder to control our steering. We humbly 
submit to you, Sir, that this fallacy is a third grave mistake 
in section 1 of the Tractatus. 
 
7. Is the vienna school closing down? 
Gamma: "Don’t you agree, Sir, that the real 
problem is not having two choices in each of the three 
mistakes. It is rather the instability of the choosing. On 
Monday, we choose the first option, on Tuesday we 
choose the other option, and on Wednesday we go back to 
the first option!” 
Beta: "Isn’t this what your Cambridge namesake 
described as the fly being at the top of an inverted bottle, 
trying desperately to escape by hitting the top upwards 
rather than retracing its direction downward to the exit?” 
Alpha: "Sir, how can we escape these maddening 
situations, or should we just quit our truth exploration?” 
Wittgenstein: “Now, you all make me feel sorry for 
myself: I wish I have never written this Tractatus! I am 
going to close down this school and look for a simple 
down-to-earth career, something like an elementary school 
teacher!” 
All the students clamoring, “No, Sir! No, Sir! Never 
say that. Your Tractatus was the luckiest thing that ever 
happened to philosophy! With your beyond belief sincerity 
and with no ax to grind, you exhibited philosophic pitfalls in 
their purity. Thus, you paved the way for your Cambridge 
namesake to create his Socratic technique, explaining the 
nature of philosophic problems, how we get entrapped by 
them, how to scramble out of the entrapment, and how to 
recognize them and avoid them. Between the two of you, 
Sir, the world will one day credit you with curing human 
thought of a conceptual plague that lasted for more than 
two milleniums! 
“Believe us, Sir! We are by no means condemning 
philosophy. What we are saying is this: There is bad 
philosophy, and there is good philosophy. Your Tractatus 
is an excellent illustration of the bad variety, and your 
Cambridge namesake’s Investigations is an excellent 
example of the good variety.”  
Alpha: "I have one last thought, Sir. I would like to 
hear what everyone thinks of it. It seems to me, Sir, that 
the philosopher attempts to discover the rules of the 
language that he is using in order to discover those rules. 
Alas, this is an impossible quest. If, however, he or she 
should appear to succeed, then they will be inventing a 
new branch of mathematics, that one day may turn out to 
be useful for application in science or technology. If he or 
she should fail, then they are producing a new 
metaphysics. This, closing down your school is probably 
the only proper thing to do. ” 
 


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