How Could Boltzmann Have Inspired the Early Wittgenstein?

Abstract

In 1931, when writing about those who had inspired him, Wittgenstein singled out Boltzmann; nobody seems to know why, however. Most commentators have ignored this remark, while a few have tried to guess what the inspiration might have been by searching the popular and philosophical writings of Boltzmann. In this article, I hypothesize that Wittgenstein may have been inspired by Boltzmann’s scientific research program from his famous 1877 article. This hypothesis is not confirmed—or rejected—by any surviving documents. But to some extent (considering the role of Fleck’s creative misunderstandings) there are two explanations for the origins of the two strange theorems underlying the Tractatus’s ontology: (1) each situation can be the case or not the case while everything else remains the same; (2) the facts are not subject to the laws of nature. My hypothesis also makes it understandable why Wittgenstein developed his logical theory of probability. So, let’s keep it in mind.