Wittgenstein in the Age of Social Media

A survival guide for living in a world full of slogans, spin, and hot air.

I read a lot of philosophy as part of my research and ongoing development. For me, it’s never been just a dry academic subject — if anything, I think philosophy is more important today than it’s ever been. Trying to make sense of a world that feels crazier by the day, amplified through social media and the 24/7 news cycle, is a challenge for anyone.

One figure who always intrigues me is Ludwig Wittgenstein. Charismatic, restless, and often contradictory, he published just one book in his lifetime: the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. It’s unlike anything else — not written in ordinary prose but as a series of numbered steps, each one spare, cryptic, and loaded with meaning, like rungs on a ladder. When it appeared in the early 1920s, it divided opinion. Bertrand Russell thought it brilliant but admitted he couldn’t follow it. The Vienna Circle treated it as scripture, though Wittgenstein himself thought they’d missed the point entirely.

The heart of the Tractatus is the idea that language has limits. A sentence, Wittgenstein argued, is meaningful only if it pictures a possible state of affairs. “The cat is on the mat” works because you can check it. But slogans like “Take back control” or “Freedom is in our DNA” don’t picture anything testable. They sound stirring, but they’re empty frames.

And here’s the obvious objection: so what? People aren’t swayed by tidy arguments about facts and nonsense. They’re swayed by identity, tribe, and emotion. And that’s true. Just look at Brexit. Many farmers and fishermen voted for it, carried along by the slogans. But now some of those same groups complain about losing European grants or facing export barriers. Their views didn’t change because someone explained Wittgenstein to them. They changed because reality bit them on the ankle.

That’s the value of the Tractatus. It won’t cure tribalism, but it does help us see what’s happening. It explains why vague slogans work so well: they feelmeaningful without ever tying themselves down to the world. And it prepares us for the moment when those empty words collapse against facts.

Then there’s that famous final line: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” It isn’t a call to keep quiet in everyday life — it’s a reminder of humility. Some of the most important things — love, justice, beauty, faith — simply can’t be reduced to tidy propositions. They don’t belong in soundbites or tweets. They have to be shown, lived, felt. In a world addicted to endless commentary, that’s almost radical.

So why does Wittgenstein matter today? Because he sharpens our awareness. He gives us a filter for spotting empty words, a compass for navigating the noise, and a reminder that some truths lie beyond language altogether.

So go on, read the Tractatus. And if you manage to follow it all the way through — congratulations. You’ve done what Russell, the Vienna Circle, and most of the rest of us never quite managed. The rest of us will happily nick Wittgenstein’s compass and leave the heavy lifting to him.

References

1. UK farmers on Brexit and losing the Common Agricultural Policy — The Guardian, 29 December 2022. This article talks about how farmers in the UK have lost access to certain subsidies and how Brexit has impacted their finances.

2. What happened to those post-Brexit farm subsidies? — Yorkshire Bylines, 31 January 2024. Examines promises made to farmers during the Brexit campaign, and what has followed since in terms of funding.

3. “How fishing was gutted by Brexit” — Westcountry Voices, 12 March 2024. Discusses how fishermen are affected: red tape, increased costs, trade barriers etc.

4. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Wikipedia entry). Provides reliable info about the structure of the book, the propositions, its style, Russell’s introduction, and the influence on Vienna Circle.