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Rahman 5

Philosophy Paper: Ludwig Wittgenstein

Student Name: Akinur Rahman

Professor Name: John Fruncillo

Course Name: PH-101

Date: 10/12/2017

Philosophy Paper: Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein has exercised an enormous influence over the field of philosophy in the middle third of the last century. His view and his life were very fascinating and he has left behind an enduring legacy. He has played a controversial, but very central role in philosophy. There are two stages of Wittgenstein's thought- the early and the later. He has proposed various philosophies and this paper discusses the language game, the philosophy of dissolving the problem rather than solving it and finally the inner and outer realm of a person's mind.

The first concept of Wittgenstein was 'Language Game' or 'rule governed activity' which was a philosophy aimed at understanding the simple examples of language use and the actions into which the language is woven (Wittgenstein, Ludwig). There is an analogy between using language and playing game according to certain rules. The use of language as well as playing games have to accompany the use of rules but not the same rules all the time. The philosopher was also of the view that it was not possible to have thoughts without language. He also proposed that words do not have a meaning at an intrinsic level and derive meaning after their use in 'language games'. Trying to understand the meaning of a word outside the language can actually have no purpose at all.

The similarity between the 'language games' is also called as 'family resemblances' which is like the similarities among the members of the family. Wittgenstein explains the concept of 'builder's language' in which there can be a primitive use of language in the form of some key words like ''block'', ''pillar'', ''slab'' etc, in which ''this'' and ''that '' can be added later (Ambrose, Alice, and Morris Lazerowtiz). This is quite similar to how children learn through ''baker's man'', ''This little piggy'', etc. These are learnt without understanding the meaning but facilitate in learning the language and then applying it in different contexts. This concept explains the inherent flexibility of language which makes it a powerful tool. the philosopher means that language shapes us and we shape it in turn as well and everything is linked together.

The second important philosophy of Wittgenstein is that of dissolving problems rather than solving them. A philosophical problem is compared by Wittgenstein to a mental knot which is created by thinking theoretically and is definitely not a tough question. This is something similar to how a therapist or a counsellor doesn't attempt to solve the problem of the patient, but rather helps the patient see beyond the problem or diverts his mind. The philosophical problems are similar to this and need to be treated in a similar manner. Of course, there are some problems which need to be dissolved or buried like the problem of loneliness or remorse after the death of a loved one but some problems like depression because of unemployment might have to be solved rather than resolved.

A third very profound concept of Wittgenstein is that of the ''inner'' and ''outer'' (Thompson, James M) in which a great deal of investigation is devoted to understanding the ways in which the inner and outer realm breakdown. According to Wittgenstein the inner realm consists of the sensations, thoughts, images, moods and intentions while it differs from the outer realm in terms of logic. On the outer side a person has behaviour, utterances, facial expressions, etc, while on the inner side there are sensations, thoughts, intentions, etc. The two realms impact each other and are in turn impacted by each other as well. But they are ''logically independent'' which means that there is no logic which connects them together.

There is a need to understand that one can mostly see the outer realm and related manifestations of this realm. One cannot know what the other person is thinking or feeling deep inside. There are also times when one hasn't introspected enough to know one's inner realm and one's understanding of the inner realm is strongly based on the observations that we have around us. We think that our inner realm consists of what other people think about us. Really understanding one's inner realm requires a lot of self-reflection and introspection. It is also possible that one is under so much immense influence of a person that one is constantly getting influenced on the inner as well as the outer realm aspect.

An analysis of Ludwig Wittgenstein  of the philosophy and ideas regarding ''Game of Language'', '' inner and outer'' and ''dissolving problems rather than solving them'', helps one to gain a unique perspective on various concepts. Even though one doesn't necessarily agree with all the philosophies, one does get convinced that the right thing to do is to see the talk of “inner” experiences and their “outer” manifestations as tools for making conceptual distinctions in the continuous fabric of human life. 

References

Ambrose, Alice, and Morris Lazerowtiz. Ludwig Wittgenstein: philosophy and language. Routledge, 2014.

Thompson, James M. "Wittgenstein’s Phenomenology: Reconsidering the Relationship of Experience and Language." From the ALWS archives: A selection of papers from the International Wittgenstein Symposia in Kirchberg am Wechsel. 2014.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. "Communication as a language game." The Discourse Studies Reader: Main currents in theory and analysis(2014): 48.