Roughly speaking: to say of two things that they are identical is nonsense, and to say of one thing that it is identical with itself is to say nothin… - Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Engraved portrait of Ludwig Wittgenstein, facing right

Roughly speaking: to say of two things that they are identical is nonsense, and to say of one thing that it is identical with itself is to say nothing.

English
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About Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-born philosopher who spent much of his life in England.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Moritz Nähr (Public domain / CC0)

Also Known As

Native Name: Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein
Alternative Names: Ludwig Joseph Johann Wittgenstein Wittgenstein

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Additional quotes by Ludwig Wittgenstein

"This is connected with the conception of naming as a process that is, so to speak, occult. Naming seems to be a _strange_ connection of a word with an object. — And such a strange connection really obtains, particularly when a philosopher tries to fathom _the_ relation between name and what is named by staring at an object in front of him and repeating a name, or even the word "this", innumerable time. For philosophical problems arise when language goes on holiday. And _then_ we may indeed imagine naming to be some remarkable mental act, as it were the baptism of an object. And we can also say the word "this" _to_ the object, as it were _address_ the object as "this" — a strange use of this word, which perhaps occurs only when philosophizing."

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