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Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein was an analytic philosopher born in Vienna who developed the concept of language-games. In his later work Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein rejected his early view that language is used solely to present facts, and that meaning comes only from picturing reality. He introduced the idea of language-games to show that language has different uses and functions within various forms of life and activities. Wittgenstein analyzed language-games to understand how meaning is determined by use within a language rather than representing an external reality.

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55 views

Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein was an analytic philosopher born in Vienna who developed the concept of language-games. In his later work Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein rejected his early view that language is used solely to present facts, and that meaning comes only from picturing reality. He introduced the idea of language-games to show that language has different uses and functions within various forms of life and activities. Wittgenstein analyzed language-games to understand how meaning is determined by use within a language rather than representing an external reality.

Uploaded by

Jonie Robles
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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When Wittgenstein back on the field of philosophizing after his rest, he wrote another work

which he name as the “Philosophical Investigation” In this work, he rejected some of his
personal ideas from his early period, this are that language is used for one purpose the
presenting of facts, that sentence acquires meaning in one way that is through picturing and that
language essentially has a clear and firm structure of the formulae in a logical calculus.
A language-game (German: Sprachspiel) is a philosophical concept developed by Ludwig
Wittgenstein, referring to simple examples of language use and the actions into which the
language is woven. Wittgenstein argued that a word or even a sentence has meaning only as
a result of the "rule" of the "game" being played.
In his work Philosophical Investigations (1953), Ludwig Wittgenstein regularly referred to the concept
of language-games.[1] Wittgenstein rejected the idea that language is somehow separate and
corresponding to reality, and he argued that concepts do not need clarity for meaning. [2] Wittgenstein
used the term "language-game" to designate forms of language simpler than the entirety of a
language itself

Ludwig Wittgenstein, an analytic philosopher who was born in Vienna


Ludwig Wittgenstein replaced his concept of language as a picture in his later philosophy.

The conception that language is a picture has been replaced by Wittgenstein himself in his later
thought that language has different functions. The term ‘language game’ is meant to bring into
prominence the fact that the speaking of language is part of an activity, or form of a life.” (PI.23)
These language games are examined in order to understand language. It can be viewed that the
meaning of a word is determined by its use in a language game.
The meaning of a language has a role in our form of life. That is why Wittgenstein means- ‘To
imagine a language means to imagine a form of life.’ There is no common feature involved
incase of our language-game
The most important question is: what is common to all these activities? The response is, instead
of asking what is common to all these activities, rather it can be said that there is nothing
common to all these activities and the activities are related to one another in many different
ways.
It is because of this relationship to all the different activities of language we call them all
‘language’. As for instance, by the word games Wittgenstein means board games, card games,
ball games, Olympicgames, and so on.
Wittgenstein in Investigations rejects the picture theory of meaning that is the central of the
Tractatus. Both early and later work of Wittgenstein was concerned with the question, how can a
sentence say something, how can a language represent reality?
The use of an expression means the language game in which it plays a part. It is a mistaken idea
that by the use of an expression Wittgenstein means the ordinary use of an expression or its
correct use.
“Language games objects of comparison which are meant to throw light on the facts of our
language by way not only of similarities, but also of dis-similarities.”
Wittgenstein in Tractatus views that philosophical problems arise when we misunderstand the
logic of our language. While Investigationssays that ‘philosophical problems arise when
language goes on holiday.’ The remedy is not found by constructing a systematic philosophical
theory. Rather the remedy is to look at how language actually works. Philosophical problems are
not empirical problems; rather philosophical problems are solved by looking into theworkings of
our language..

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