Ludwig Wittgenstein - Philosophy and Language
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
Austrian-born British philosopher (pictured right) who spent his academic career at Cambridge.
A protégé of Bertrand
Russell (pictured right below), he was famous for his views on
language.
His most famous books
are...
Tractatus (1921).
Philosophical Investigations (1953).
What did he say about language?
1. Language has a purpose
Language:
- has lots of different purposes.
- will change as new situations and technologies arise (inventing new words for new
inventions).
Wittgenstein’s “picture theory of learning” states that words can represent
reality and fact in the same way as a painting represents its subject.
2. Meaning matters
- understand what a word (or concept) really means.
- realize that different uses and circumstances will change this
meaning.
So Wittgenstein said
“Don’t ask for the meaning, ask for the use”.
3. Language is public
We learn and understand language and mental characteristics (e.g. virtues like love) from other people in
social situations (e.g. work and family).
4. “Language game”
Wittgenstein created this term to describe how the use of words is similar to playing games,
because they are both human activities, governed by rules that can be interpreted in
different ways.
5. Be precise and clear
Use words accurately,
clearly and precisely.
So don’t use a statement out of context e.g. a religious concept in science.
“What can be said at all can be said clearly”, Wittgenstein said.
Key quote on
success
Genius is talent exercised with courage.
Key quote on
change
Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in
your sleep.
Key quotes on
communication
What can be said at all can be said clearly.
Don’t ask for the meaning, ask for the use.
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
Key quote on
education
Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.
Key quote on decision
making
The problems can be solved, not by giving new information, but by arranging what we have always known.
Key quotes on learning and
wisdom
Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.
Key quote on corporate
culture
At the core of all well founded belief lies belief that is unfounded.
Key quote on
happiness
Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving yourself.
Key quote on the learning
organization
If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.
Key quote on learning and
ambition
Ambition is the death of thought.
Key quote on
health
The human body is the best picture of the human soul.
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