by Shannon Abelson

Created on: January 30, 2011

Ludwig Wittgenstein was a linguistic philosopher who followed the tradition of famous analytical philosophers Bertrand Russell and Gottlob Frege. His philosophy centers primarily on language and logic, and his later work, Philosophical Investigations charts a new frontier in philosophy. He is most well-known for his controversial assertion that the meaning of a word is dictated by how it is used in language games (PI 43). Words do not have a central essence that can be defined. Rather, their essence consists within their grammar, the elaborate web of familial relations that connect terms to one another. For Wittgenstein, a word has no central definition, but a web of interrelated concepts that are connected to it; it’s grammar.

When learning a word, one hears how it is used and uses it himself until he understands its grammar. A prime example of how a word’s meaning is grounded in its use and grammar can be found when one examines the word, “game.” If one tried to define a game as a competitive sport, he would be leaving out Solitaire or Ring-Around-the-Rosie, which have no competitive element, but are still considered games nonetheless.  The same problem occurs with any attempted definition of “game.” Some activities are left out that are most certainly classified as games. Wittgenstein claims that it is through understanding the grammar of a word that we are aware of certain criteria that must be met in order to correctly use the word. We cannot always list these criteria because we will ultimately not be able to list everything and end up leaving a criterion out. However a language user, through practice, is able to examine the word’s grammar to discern when the use of a word does not fit the criteria and is incorrect.

One might insist that at the very least, proper names must have an essence apart from their grammar since they refer to one, specific person. However, the fact that they refer to the person necessitates the presence of grammar as a reference. The name points to the person; the person is not the name. The reason why a name has no essence apart from its grammar is that a name cannot capture the whole reality of a person. In the same way that a biography can only highlight some points of a person’s life, a name can only point to someone; it cannot encapsulate some kind of innate essence.  Grammar allows language users to appreciate the reality of a word or name, without assigning a restricting essence to it.    

Wittgenstein’s conception of grammar reevaluates the way we think about language. Ascribing the meaning of a word to its grammar opens an entirely new world of thought in linguistic philosophy. 

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