language games Flashcards
what quote does Wittgenstein use to describe where one should not speak?
“whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent”
we should not talk about things we do. to understand
how did Wittgenstein try to discover the meaning of language?
the meaning of a word is in its function in the language.
To discover the meaning we must ‘look and see’
what are some of the functions which Wittgenstein lists of language?
to give orders report an event describe an object to exclaim tell a joke
how did Wittgenstein see language?
saw it as a game, to use language is to participate in a game.
every different language is a different language game
why does Wittgenstein criticise logical positivism?
LP fails to capture the complexity of language, its treats all language as its the same, identifying facts
what are forms of life?
they are contingent upon culture and context.
e.g builder language is labelling items such as pillar or beam, but this is specific to that form of life and can be understood
why are forms of life different?
all humans are immersed in different forms of life, when immersed in that form of life you understand the rules and language will be meaningful as a result.
what is Familienähnlichkeit?
language games show family resemblance, as there are features that they have in common and overlapping relationship, but they are nor identical
how did Wittgenstein explain challenging of language games?
you cannot challenge chess with the rules of tennis as you cannot challenge the rules of religious language with the language of science
how did Wittgenstein explain the rules of language games?
they are subjective as are useful for the applications which they are applied in that game.
how did Wittgenstein describe language games as a shared language?
language is not a private enterprise but shared, uses example of pain, if private experiences were real then pain would be a private thing however you learn the meaning of pain from other people who don’t have access to same experience
what is the challenge of non meaningful conversations?
the theory does not allow for meaningful conversions between different groups of users, as how can different people from different games understand each other. e.g an atheist cannot communicate with a believer
what is the challenge of not providing adequate meaning for god?
- god language has meaning regardless of what’s being said and so makes accurate description of god tricky
- all definitions would be considered meaningful within the context they are being used
- no necessity for any claim about god to be factually correct and no need to verify truth claims
how are language games unsuitable?
- the do not allow qualities of god to be considered as truth
- they dismiss claims of scripture as games rather than truth
- they make religion seem inaccessible and exclusive
how are language games suitable?
- Wittgenstein acknowledged religious language is more complex
- allows that scripture includes several functions of language
- anyone can learn a new game if they immerse themselves in it
- no need to challenge religious language as it makes no claims about the world
