Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Symbolism he is concerned with the conditions which would have to be fulfilled by a logically perfect language.

First, there is the problem what actually occurs in our minds when we use language with the intention of meaning something by it; this problem belongs to psychology.

What you say can mean something else entirely based on how it sounds to the listener An observation is multi-layered. A proposition is dependent on the level of observation which can result in an assertion that might need an observation at a completely different level as evidence to be considered a fact

Fourthly, there is the question: what relation must one fact (such as a sentence) have to another in order to be capable of being a symbol for that other? This last is a logical question, and is the one with which Mr Wittgenstein is concerned. He is concerned with the conditions for accurate Symbolism, i.e. for Symbolism in which a sentence “means” something quite definite.

He compares linguistic expression to projection in geometry. A geometrical figure may be projected in many ways: each of these ways corresponds to a different language, but the projective properties of the original figure remain unchanged whichever of these ways may be adopted. These projective properties correspond to that which in his theory the proposition and the fact must have in common, if the proposition is to assert the fact.

Self-expression or how one manifests in the world is comparable to projection in geometry. Your origin, axes of the n-dimensional space, transformations (or the lack of) through time and space and finally consciousness defines who you are. There's a world out there that only you have access to.