Language Games Flashcards
(12 cards)
Wittgenstein key quote
‘Don’t ask me for the meaning, ask me for the use.’
What did Wittgenstein focus on?
In his ‘Philosophical Investigations’, Wittgenstein focused on what uses language can be put to.
What did Wittgenstein argue about language?
He was less concerned with the truth or falsity of language, rather he argued that words have no objective reference points; they simply reflect systems of behaviour.
For religious language, he thought that the function may be more important than the meaning.
How did Wittgenstein argue language works?
Wittgenstein argued that language works through a series of ‘language games.’
That is, meaning only comes out of context; we have to know what ‘game’ our terms are participating in.
What did Wittgenstein say about the philosophical debate on language?
Problems occur through misunderstanding that words can be used in different language games.
The problems are not really to do with the words themselves, but how we use them. The words do have meaning in their context, but not in a different context.
What is meaning to Wittgenstein?
Meaning is all about observing convention, like in a game.
So with religion, there may be conventional or unconventional ays to talk about God.
Wittgenstein quote
‘Philosophical problems arise when language goes on holiday.’
Correspondence theory of truth
Truth is a connection to reality. To be true is to correspond with the real world, or parts of it.
What does it mean to say someone is a realist?
Realists believe that we can have knowledge of an objective reality.
Coherence theory of truth
A coherence theory of truth would claim that the beliefs of a given individual are true to the extent that the set of all their beliefs are internally consistent.
What does it mean to say someone is a non-realist?
Non realism refers to a reality that is entirely dependent upon human belief and language
Why is language games important to religion?
Wittgenstein’s theory could be important because of the connection it makes with the ‘coherence theory of truth.’
One could argue that the ‘game’ of religious language cannot be criticised because internally, it is coherent and intelligible. Religious views fit with other religious views.