"Wittgenstein used the analogy of games to describe the various uses of language. We use language to inform, ask, command, entertain, speculate, curse, joke, agree, reminisce, play, emote... [etc.] There is no single feature shared by all of these.., Wittgenstein claimed; just as games lack a mutually defining feature.., language, in its great variety, has no essence. He therefore called [its] uses... 'language games'. ...The point..: if language has no essence one cannot give a systematic theory to... how it works. He was trying to bring philosophical speculation about meaning to an end. Is Wittgenstein right..? It is a good game trying to prove him wrong, and needs no equipment except a brain. ...[L]ike many ...games, it has a serious and useful point."
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University of Cambridge facultyPhilosophers from the United KingdomPhilosophers from AustriaAcademics from AustriaPeople from Vienna
Original Language: English
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Sources
A. C. Grayling, The Reason of Things: Living with Philosophy (2003) pp. 40-41.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein
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Ludwig Wittgenstein
1889 – 1951
österreichischer Philosoph
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