Wittgenstein & the Importance of Language Games
Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy & Language
Jul 11, 2008 Sabrina Louise Webb
Language Games
Much of Wittgenstein's work was concentrated on the importance of language. Philosophy, for Wittgenstein, was not about answering profoundly spiritual questions about the nature of being, the mind or the meaning of life. It was more of a technique; a way of mastering language and using it correctly.
He argued that humans are social beings that use language as a tool; referring to language as a game that must have a purpose. Examples of language games include giving and obeying orders, describing appearances of objects, reporting events, making jokes, asking, thinking and greeting, to name but a few. (Wittgenstein, 1958, p.23) Each time a game is played, the players must follow the corresponding rules in order that the game is played correctly.
The Importance of Language
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis argued that language comes before the world, not the other way around. Language is what ties us to the world around us.
Ferdinand de Saussure wrote that all words acted as signs and had two components; signifiers and the signified. For the word ‘cat’, the word ‘cat’ is the signifier and the description, ‘a furry animal with four legs and a tail,’ is the signified.
Language is only understood when everyone recognises the same signifiers and the signified. What words mean depend on the situation one is in, the intention of the speaker; rather, what the speaker wants to say and the words that come before and after the word in question.
It is possible for words to mean different things, but ‘what the person means will simply be what the signal means under the circumstances.’ (Schroeder, 2006, p.150) These theories are useful ways of understanding the stance Wittgenstein took with regards to the way language should be used.
Philosophy and Language: The Question of Time
In Wittgenstein’s view, philosophical questions only arose when language games were used incorrectly:
‘If you do not keep the multiplicity of language games in view you will perhaps be inclined to ask questions like: ‘‘What is a question?’’’ (Wittgenstein, 1958, p.24)
Consider the concept of time; what is its purpose? Most people use a specific counting system to measure time; this comes from a need to organise ourselves. Therefore, the function of time is to act as a social tool which in turn satisfies a cultural need.
The question ‘What is time?’ has no purpose; it is nonsensical. Whereas the question ‘What is the time?’ has a function.
Philosophy, Wittgenstein argued, only occurred when language games were dismantled or used incorrectly. He said: ‘A main source of our failure to understand is that we do not command a clear view of the use of our words.’ (Wittgenstein, 1958, p.121)
Simply put, philosophy could be abandoned if language were used correctly.
Philosophy as a Technique
Wittgenstein saw philosophy as a technique; a way of curing the urge to ask philosophical questions. The job of the philosopher is to recognise when language is being used incorrectly and to remedy it. As Wittgenstein put it; the aim of philosophy should be to ‘shew the fly out of the fly-bottle.’ Wittgenstein, 1958, p.309)
References:
Schroeder, S., 2006, Wittgenstein: The Way out of the Fly Bottle,’ Cambridge: Polity Press
Wittgenstein, L., 1958, 2nd Ed, ‘Philosophical Investigations,’ Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd
Ludwig Wittgenstein
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