An Underappreciated Analogy from Diktat für Schlick

In a remark from Diktat für Schlick (c. 1933), Wittgenstein proposes an analogy between ornaments and “inarticulate sounds.” This analogy has not been sufficiently discussed in the literature on the relation between Wittgenstein’s philosophy and his architecture. In this chapter, I argue that there is a thematic continuity between this remark and the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921). I further argue that what Wittgenstein calls ‘inarticulate sounds’ here corresponds to what he calls ‘nonsense’ in the Tractatus, licensing the conclusion that the proposed analogy concerns ornaments and nonsense. Toward the end of the chapter, I characterize the four main aspects of the analogy and briefly discuss a perspective that it seems to support. One issue with this perspective is the absence of motivation for Wittgenstein’s (alleged) rejection of ornaments. The search for it will lead to the writings of Adolf Loos.