From the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus to Later Wittgenstein: An NLP-Based Comparative Analysis

Andreiana Mihail, Silviu-Florin Gheorghe, Andrei Fotea, Liviu P. Dinu


Abstract
This study investigates the application of Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods to uncover linguistic and stylistic variations within the corpus of Ludwig Wittgenstein, a philosopher renowned for his complex and notional contributions. By analyzing works such as Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus alongside his later notes, manuscripts, and student-dictated lectures in Cambridge, we aim to identify significant distinctions in language use and conceptual framing. The corpus poses unique difficulties because of its diverse origins, encompassing published works, personal notes, and collaboratively edited transcripts. Utilizing zero-shot NLP techniques, this exploratory/preliminary research aims to reveal patterns reflective of Wittgenstein’s philosophical evolution and differences in text production manners. The results highlight the potential of computational approaches to enhance our understanding of complex, context-dependent philosophical writings, providing a possible path for further interdisciplinary investigations into linguistic and conceptual dynamics in this challenging body of work.
Anthology ID:
2025.ranlp-1.84
Volume:
Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Recent Advances in Natural Language Processing - Natural Language Processing in the Generative AI Era
Month:
September
Year:
2025
Address:
Varna, Bulgaria
Editors:
Galia Angelova, Maria Kunilovskaya, Marie Escribe, Ruslan Mitkov
Venue:
RANLP
SIG:
Publisher:
INCOMA Ltd., Shoumen, Bulgaria
Note:
Pages:
729–736
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URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2025.ranlp-1.84/
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Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Andreiana Mihail, Silviu-Florin Gheorghe, Andrei Fotea, and Liviu P. Dinu. 2025. From the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus to Later Wittgenstein: An NLP-Based Comparative Analysis. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Recent Advances in Natural Language Processing - Natural Language Processing in the Generative AI Era, pages 729–736, Varna, Bulgaria. INCOMA Ltd., Shoumen, Bulgaria.
Cite (Informal):
From the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus to Later Wittgenstein: An NLP-Based Comparative Analysis (Mihail et al., RANLP 2025)
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PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2025.ranlp-1.84.pdf