Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein

20th-century Austrian-British philosopher, central to philosophy of language and mind

Picture Theory of Language

The early view that language represents reality by “picturing” facts and states of affairs

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

Wittgenstein’s early work presenting the picture theory, limits of language, and what can be meaningfully said

Limits of Language

The principle that what cannot be expressed clearly in language should be passed over in silence

Meaning as Use

The later view that the meaning of a word is determined by how it is used in language within specific contexts

Language Games

Socially embedded activities governed by rules in which words acquire meaning

Forms of Life

The cultural, social, and practical contexts that give language its sense and function

Rule-Following

The idea that understanding language involves learning to follow communal rules rather than grasping abstract meanings

Private Language Argument

The argument that a language understandable by only a single individual is impossible, as meaning depends on public criteria

Philosophy as Therapy

Philosophy’s role is to dissolve conceptual confusions rather than construct theories, clarifying how language misleads

Family Resemblance

The concept that categories are defined by overlapping similarities rather than strict necessary and sufficient conditions

Contextual Meaning

Understanding words and propositions requires attention to the circumstances and practices in which they are used

Critique of Metaphysics

Many traditional philosophical problems arise from misunderstanding language and attempting to speak beyond its limits

Propositions and Facts

Early Wittgenstein distinguished between meaningful propositions (which describe facts) and nonsensical statements

Logic

The structure underlying language and reality, making representation of the world possible