Allegorical Tractatus

In his Tractatus, Wittgenstein makes use of several terms he takes from classical philosophy: not only “Welt”, but also “Substanz” (which is, as he says, independent from the world!). It may seem he is only playing with high brow concepts of the Geistesgeschichte. In this way also his thoughts about God or “a god” could be read. But maybe the contrary is true.

Just have a look at:

4.012 Offenbar ist, dass wir einen Satz von der Form „aRb“ als Bild empfinden. Hier ist das Zeichen offenbar ein Gleichnis des Bezeichneten.

“Gleichnis” is a word that in German usually only Christ would use – or whoever thinks to speak for him. Jesus, young Christians learn, “spricht in Gleichnissen” – He speaks in parables, He allegorizes, His heirs pontificate. To talk in parables, we may add, is not to be considered the clearest of all possible manners of expressing yourself.

To translate it as “likeness”, as Pears and Ogden do, may give a wrong idea.

Ogden: “Here the sign is obviously a likeness of the signified.”

Well, “obviously”, offensichtlich, but offenbar: here this must mean “apparently”. There is nothing obvious in what Wittgenstein says. For Christians, in addition, this offenbar is linked to the Offenbarung, revelation.

Why not translate as follows:

"It is apparent (“obvious” in the sense of revealed!) that we sense a sentence of the form “aRb” as a picture. Here the sign apparently is a parable (allegory) of the signified."

What if the Tractatus said: all our signifying and indicating “facts” is very mysterious? Something near religion?