The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Languages, language-games, and forms of life

Languages, language-games, and forms of life
Languages, language-games, and forms of life
In this paper, after outlining the methodological role Wittgenstein's appeal to language-games is supposed to play, I examine the picture of language which his discussion of such games and their relations to what Wittgenstein calls forms of life suggests. It is a picture according to which language and its employment are inextricably connected to wider contexts—they are embedded in specific natural and social environments, they are tied to purposive activities serving provincial needs, and caught up in distinctive ways of life which creatures of a certain sort enjoy. In the remainder of the paper, I consider whether Wittgenstein's emphasis on the link between language and the circumstances surrounding its use points in the direction of an influential view widespread in contemporary philosophy of language, namely, semantic contextualism. I examine carefully a number of passages which scholars have appealed to in support of the claim that Wittgenstein advances contextualism and argue that they in fact provide no such support. The connection which Wittgenstein sees between what is expressed in the use of words and the circumstances in which they are used is not the connection the contextualist insists on.
Wiley
Whiting, Daniel
c0847bb4-963e-470d-92a2-5c8aae5d5aef
Glock, H.-J.
Hyman, J.
Whiting, Daniel
c0847bb4-963e-470d-92a2-5c8aae5d5aef
Glock, H.-J.
Hyman, J.

Whiting, Daniel (2012) Languages, language-games, and forms of life. In, Glock, H.-J. and Hyman, J. (eds.) The Blackwell Companion to Wittgenstein. Wiley. (In Press)

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

In this paper, after outlining the methodological role Wittgenstein's appeal to language-games is supposed to play, I examine the picture of language which his discussion of such games and their relations to what Wittgenstein calls forms of life suggests. It is a picture according to which language and its employment are inextricably connected to wider contexts—they are embedded in specific natural and social environments, they are tied to purposive activities serving provincial needs, and caught up in distinctive ways of life which creatures of a certain sort enjoy. In the remainder of the paper, I consider whether Wittgenstein's emphasis on the link between language and the circumstances surrounding its use points in the direction of an influential view widespread in contemporary philosophy of language, namely, semantic contextualism. I examine carefully a number of passages which scholars have appealed to in support of the claim that Wittgenstein advances contextualism and argue that they in fact provide no such support. The connection which Wittgenstein sees between what is expressed in the use of words and the circumstances in which they are used is not the connection the contextualist insists on.

Text
Languages,_language_games_and_forms_of_life_-_Daniel_Whiting.pdf - Author's Original
Download (409kB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 2012
Organisations: Philosophy

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 343022
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/343022
PURE UUID: 377dbe72-7f4c-4024-98bf-8fc8b4a1df0d

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Sep 2012 15:56
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 11:58

Export record

Contributors

Author: Daniel Whiting
Editor: H.-J. Glock
Editor: J. Hyman

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×