The mystic

 

WITTGENSTEIN AND THE MYSTICAL.

But what is mystical?
Wittgenstein discusses the mystical only at the end of the Tractatus, starting from 6.44. He never returned to this in his later work.

6.44 Nicht wie die Welt ist, ist das Mystische, sondern dass sie ist.
6.44 Not how the world is, is the mystical, but that it is.

 
The purpose of the Tractatus is logic.
The mystical = that the world is.

So you no longer need to search for the meaning of 'the mystical'. 
The 'is' in 'that the world is, is the mythical' is a totally different 'is' than the 'is' in 'the sky is blue'.

Wittgenstein is very clear about the use of his 'is':

6.421
Es ist klar, dass sich die Ethik nicht aussprechen lässt.
Die Ethik ist transcendental.
(Ethik und Aesthetik sind Eins.)
6.421
It is clear that ethics cannot be expressed.
Ethics are transcendental.
(Ethics and aesthetics are one.)

 

ethics = aethetics = inexpressible = transcendental.

 

How, then, does Wittgenstein arrive at his famous conclusion?
7. Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.
7. Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

6.13
Die Logik ist keine Lehre, sondern ein Spiegelbild der Welt.
Die Logik ist transcendental.
6.13
Logic is not a theory but a reflexion of the world.
Logic is transcendental

ethics = aethetics = logic = inexpressible = transcendental.

Strange, isn't it, how I am inclined to ask a question rather than a question:
 'Is Wittgenstein a mystic?'.
(Fortunately, I did not succumb to a bold conclusion like 'Wittgenstein is therefore (not) a mystic.')
Strange, isn't it, that I am inclined to let myself be tempted into an exposition when I could just as easily have simply written 'Blue.' under the title 'Wittgenstein and Mysticism.'

Or, to put it in Wittgenstein's words:
Es ist so schwer, den Anfang zu finden. Oder besser: Es ist schwer, am Anfang anzufangen. Und nicht versuchen, weiter zurückzugehen.
Über Gewissheit 471.

It is so difficult to find the beginning. Or better: it is difficult to begin at the beginning. And not try to go further back.
On certainty 471.