Wittgenstein Repudiates Metaphysical Chatter, Not Metaphysics per se

Abstract

The concern of (the mature) Wittgenstein as a philosopher is language, not ontology
(or metaphysics, if that means an inquiry into the depths of reality). According to
his anthropological linguistics, the reality that humans can be cognizant of is
constituted by the human organic form of life. Yet there is no denying that there is
reality per se, a reality independent of humans. It is just that reality per se is
transcendent to human interest. Such a transcendent realm lies beyond the limits of
language, and as such cannot be spoken of. Speaking of that which cannot be spoken of
is metaphysical chatter: a chatter that, as it were, bumps against the limits of
language. Consigning the transcendent to silence is called for. While Wittgenstein
affirms there is that which is transcendent, such is, for him, better left
unspoken.