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Playing The Language-Game

1. "I want to play a game." Imagine a situation where upon hearing this, one knew precisely what game I had in mind e.g. standing on a basketball court. But, is it at all clear that one would know in this situation exactly which game using a basketball I did have in mind? But further imagine a situation in which one had absolutely no idea what game I intended when I said "I want to play a game."

2. The question this raises is: Exactly what do I need to intend, or more importantly, what do I need to communicate, in order for someone to understand what I mean when I say "I want to play a game"? Do I need to intend a specific game or for that matter do I need to have any game in mind? Compare this with what Wittgenstein says: "Some one says to me: "Shew the children a game." I teach them gaming with dice, and the other says "I didn't mean that sort of game." Must the exclusion of the game with dice have come before his mind when he gave me the order?" (p. 33e).

3. Let us take this imagining game one step further. Imagine a situation in which one had no idea what I was referring to when I said "I want to play a game." Before explaining what game you wished to play you would have to explain what you meant by "a game" to begin with. Language as a game (Cf. 66, 69).

4. You can do as many things with language as you can with the basketball in section one above. (Imagine all the various games you have played on the court.)

5. Related to this is Wittgenstein's suggestion to "make a radical break with the idea that language always functions in one way, always serves the same purpose" (PI 304).

6. In 65 Wittgenstein says: "Here we come up against the great question that lies behind all these considerations. For someone might object against me: "You take the easy way out! You talk about all sorts of language-games, but have nowhere said what the essence of a language-game, and hence language, is: what is common to all these activities, and what makes them into language or parts of language. So you let yourself off the very part of the investigation that once gave you yourself most headache, the part about the general form of propositions and of language."

7. There are three essential points to understand about language-games. 1 . The use of the term points to the notion that language is an activity. Language is both part of an activity (23) and an activity itself. 2. Language-games are not "hermetically sealed levels of discourse." They are

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