ABSTRACT
The world is the place where we live; as our natural environment it provides the context for human and other life. But one may also note that “The world is all that is the case,” as Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote at the beginning of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. 1 >There the term ‘world’ refers to the sum total of facts. For Wittgenstein, there is nothing “outside” the world. In terms of the triangular model, the world — the facts of the world — serve as one of three interpretive elements. The other two elements are humanity and the religious ideal. The religious ideal — Brahman or God — was the topic of Chapter 5. Humanity will be the topic of Chapter 7. It is therefore appropriate to examine the world here, although Wittgenstein's remark should remind us that the triangular model is not a simple reflection of the world. The triangular model is rather a way to understand the world in terms of its ideal elements. At some point, the ideal gives way to the real.
