The Method of Language-Games as a Method of Logic

2019 ◽  
pp. 142-179
Author(s):  
Oskari Kuusela
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Game ◽  
Logical Analysis ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Correct Method ◽  
Special Case

This chapter develops an interpretation of Wittgenstein’s method of language-games as a method of logic that exhibits continuities with Frege’s, Russell’s, and the early Wittgenstein’s conceptions of logic and logical analysis as the method of philosophy. On the proposed interpretation, the method of language-games is a method for isolating and modelling aspects of the uses of linguistic expressions embedded in human activities that enables one to clarify complex uses of expressions by gradually building up the complexity of clarificatory models. Wittgenstein’s introduction of the language-game method constitutes an attempt to overcome certain limitations of calculus-based logical methods, and to extend the reach of logical methods, so as to make accessible areas of language use and thought that are not accessible by means of calculus-based methods. Rather than rejected, calculus-based methods are retained as a special case of logical methodology. The method of language-games is thus compatible with the employment of calculus-based methods in logic and philosophy, and the method of language-games involves no exclusive claim to being the correct method.

scholarly journals THE DEVELOPMENT OF WITTGENSTEIN’S LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE: FROM IDEAL LANGUAGE THEORY TO LANGUAGE GAMES

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 248-257
Author(s):  
Yasmina KADOUM ◽  
Farid ZIDANI
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Dynamic Analysis ◽  
Static Analysis ◽  
Language Game ◽  
Logical Analysis ◽  
Language Theory ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Ideal Language ◽  
Natural Discourse ◽  
Semantic Dimension

The purpose of this article is to elucidate the evolution of Wittgenstein’s philosophy. After having considered in the Tractatus, natural language as suffering from many deficiencies and does not respond to his aspirations which are the establishment of a logically perfect language by the precision and adjusting so that each object should correspond only one word, this position has evolved in Investigations for a reconsideration of natural language as having a particular importance for its infinite uses, that take the form of a "language- game" using specific rules. This new dynamic analysis of language, as opposed to the static analysis of the Tractatus, permitted natural discourse to regain its semantic dimension to remain creative and ingenious. What distinguishes the two theories? And what are the resulting philosophical consequences? This is what we will try to clarify.

Worchitect: An English Grammar (Parts of Speech) Card Game

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Adi Idham Jailani ◽  
Nazarul Azali Razali ◽  
Ahmad Harith Syah Md Yusuf ◽  
Ariff Imran Anuar Yatim ◽  
Nor Atifah Mohamad
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Game ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Learning Activity ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Card Game ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Grammar Rules

Mastery of the English grammar is an intricate subject. Conventional teaching and learning of the English grammar have found to be an arduous task for teachers and a lacklustre one for students. The traditional pen and paper method often cause second language (L2) learners to become unmotivated in understanding this important element of the language. Thus, it is critical to provide L2 learners with the motivation to engage learning grammar in a more meaningful and purposive process. An ideal way to provide such learning experiences is through the use of language games that accommodate L2 learners’ desire to grasp grammar rules in an enjoyable way. To fill the gap for a purposive and meaningful grammar-based language game, Worchitect, a card-based game that focuses on (English) parts of speech is developed. The card game poses players/learners with questions that will foster their understanding of the rules of grammar for them to play the game and accumulate the highest scores possible. This game provides a constructive reinforcement to L2 users as it allows for the English parts of speech (and grammar) rules to be deductively attained. Furthermore, Worchitect is highly marketable as it is suitable for learners of various language proficiencies; for language teachers to be used as reinforcement or the actual learning activity; for parents who are looking to spend quality time with their children; and for any language enthusiast.

LANGUAGE GAMES IN TEACHING RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Iermachkova ◽  
Katarína Chválová
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Game ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Effective Implementation

The paper is devoted to the language game in teaching Russian as a foreign language. The research aims to examine the phenomenon of the language game in journalistic text and show its effective implementation in the study processes. Language games are considered at different language levels (word-formation, graphics, paremiology and etc.). The article analyzes the definitions of the examined phenomenon and its main functions in journalistic text.

The Relevance of Moore and Wittgenstein

2021 ◽  
pp. 205-222
Author(s):  
Ernest Sosa
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Games ◽  
On Certainty

Moore lays out his Defence of Common Sense in a paper so titled, and thought by Wittgenstein to be Moore’s best and that stimulated his own On Certainty. Wittgenstein there repudiates Moore’s epistemology and offers a radically different alternative. This chapter presents the gist of that alternative, while inviting the reader to compare that gist with supportive passages gather in the Appendix to the chapter. Wittgenstein is concerned with language games, with pragmatics of language use, with dialectical interplay, with what it is proper to say to someone, and with the effects of context on all of that. Moore in his relevant epistemology is largely unconcerned with such dialectical, linguistic, or contextual issues. This chapter also abstracts almost wholly from them, while remaining neutral on their substance and on their relation to more purely epistemological issues.

Political Language and Political Reality

1985 ◽  
Vol 18 (01) ◽  
pp. 10-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Edelman
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Social World ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Logical Positivist ◽  
Linguistic Turn ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
The Social

The most incisive twentieth century students of language converge from different premises on the conclusion that language is the key creator of the social worlds people experience, and they agree as well that language cannot usefully be understood as a tool for describing an objective reality. For the later Wittgenstein there are no essences, only language games. Chomsky analyzes the sense in which grammar is generative. For Derrida all language is performative, a form of action that undermines its own presuppositions. Foucault sees language as antedating and constructing subjectivity. The “linguistic turn” in twentieth century philosophy, social psychology, and literary theory entails an intellectual ferment that raises fundamental questions about a great deal of mainstream political science, and especially about its logical positivist premises.While the writers just mentioned analyze various senses in which language use is an aspect of creativity, those who focus upon specifically political language are chiefly concerned with its capacity to reflect ideology, mystify, and distort. The more perspicacious of them deny that an undistorting language is possible in a social world marked by inequalities in resources and status, though the notion of an undistorted language can be useful as an evocation of an ideal benchmark. The emphasis upon political language as distorting or mystifying is a key theme in Lasswell and Orwell, as it is in Habermas, Osgood, Ellul, Vygotsky, Enzensberger, Bennett, and Shapiro.

scholarly journals Coatsandbrasandjeans– andclothes, too: lexical contrast between hyperonyms and hyponyms

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-499
Author(s):  
ANU KOSKELA
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Prototype Structure ◽  
Real Language ◽  
Special Case ◽  
Category Prototype

A special case of lexical contrast involves contrasting a hyperonym and a hyponym (as inclothes and socks), leading to the narrowing of the hyperonym's sense. However, not all hyperonym/hyponym pairs are amenable to contrast (e.g.?animals and cats). While category prototype structure forms a strong motivating and constraining factor for hyperonym/hyponym contrast (e.g. Lehrer 1990), what is lacking in previous work is a systematic consideration of the co-hyponyms in real language use. To that end, data from the GloWbE corpus (Davies 2013) were used to investigate which terms for items of clothing (e.g.coat,bra,jeans) can be contrasted with their hyperonym (eitherclothesorclothing). While marginal members of theitem of clothingcategory (e.g.belt,hat) have a stronger potential for contrasting with the hyperonym, even prototypical hyponyms (e.g.shirt,jeans) contrasted withclothes/clothingin at least some contexts. Language users can therefore manipulate category boundaries to meet their discourse needs, exploiting a range of dimensions of difference to create contrast. Many clothing terms were also found to contrast more readily withclothesthan withclothing, suggesting that the meaning ofclothesis generally narrower than that of its near-synonymclothing.

Evolution of an Optimal Lexicon under Constraints from Embodiment

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem Zuidema ◽  
Gert Westermann
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Language Game ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Language And Cognition ◽  
Linguistic Structures

Research in language evolution is concerned with the question of how complex linguistic structures can emerge from the interactions between many communicating individuals. Thus it complements psycholinguistics, which investigates the processes involved in individual adult language processing, and child language development studies, which investigate how children learn a given (fixed) language. We focus on the framework of language games and argue that they offer a fresh and formal perspective on many current debates in cognitive science, including those on the synchronic-versus-diachronic perspective on language, the embodiment and situatedness of language and cognition, and the self-organization of linguistic patterns. We present a measure for the quality of a lexicon in a population, and derive four characteristics of the optimal lexicon: specificity, coherence, distinctiveness, and regularity. We present a model of lexical dynamics that shows the spontaneous emergence of these characteristics in a distributed population of individuals that incorporate embodiment constraints. Finally, we discuss how research in cognitive science could contribute to improving existing language game models.

Quality in qualitative management accounting research

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Nørreklit
Keyword(s):  
Cost Management ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Language Game ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Pragmatic Constructivism ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the quality of Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management (QRAM) is manifested through the conceptualization of knowledge about functioning actions that are applicable for local management accounting practices. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on language game theory and pragmatic constructivism, the paper analyzes the “practice doing” embedded in key language games of the case descriptions of three articles on intra-organizational buyer-supplier relations published in QRAM with the aim of revealing how they contribute to the development of a performativity in management accounting topos that integrates facts, possibilities, values and communication. Findings – The analysis documents that the three QRAM articles on inter-organizational cost management make a common contribution to the knowledge related to what to do to make functional actions within the practice of inter-organizational cost management. Together, the articles provide conceptual rigour with a complexity in content that can encompass the four dimensions of integration. Research limitations/implications – In providing a framework for analyzing practice relevance, the paper has implications for contemporary discussions on doing research that is relevant for practice. Originality/value – The paper provides novel insight into the analysis of quality in management accounting research. Additionally, it provides a framework for reflecting on the accumulation of practice-relevant knowledge and identifying areas requiring more research.

Use, Meaning, and Theoretical Commitment

2006 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eike Von Savigny
Keyword(s):  
Language Game ◽  
Expressive Power ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Everyday Language ◽  
Theoretical Commitment

This paper is on theoretical commitments involved in connecting use and meaning. Wittgenstein maintained, in his , that meaning more or less 'is' use; and he more or less proclaimed that in philosophy, we must 'not advance any kind of theory' (PI § 109). He presented a connection between use and meaning by describing a sequence of language-games where richness of vocabularies and complexity of embedding behaviour grow simultaneously. This presentation is very in the sequence of PI §§ 2, 8, 15, and 21, even if it needs sympathetic touching up. If supplemented, the presentation makes a for claiming that there is a connection between use and meaning in the following sense: This may be a very modest statement of the meaning-is-use connection. However, , as sober analysis of the sequence presented by Wittgenstein will reveal. This is not to say that the modest statement is in any way fishy. Rather, I want to remind readers of how desirable it is to restrict the interpretation of Wittgenstein's famous hostile remarks on theories to that kind of metaphysical misunderstandings of our everyday language which the context of PI § 109 is about. In (1) I characterize, by way of listing examples from the , the area of what I think Wittgenstein regarded as innocent, everyday meaning talk, talk that is not yet infected by bad philosophy. In (2), I argue that what Wittgenstein wanted to show was that such talk is in some sense replaceable by use descriptions, i.e. by descriptions of language-games. In (3), I argue that not all kinds of language-games are relevant; in particular, those of teaching and explaining words have to be excluded. As I restrict myself to the four remaining 'primitive' language-games in PI §§ 2, 8, 15, and 21, I have to defend my approach, in (4), against Joachim Schulte's case for reading Wittgenstein's comparison of these language-games with real languages as ironical. How the invitation to regard such a language-game as a complete, primitive language should in fact be construed is a question I discuss in (5), defending my interpretation against Richard Raatzsch in particular. How increases of expressive power are brought about by increases of the use repertoires is shown by an analysis of modified versions of the language-games in question, and of alternatives thereof, in (6), (7), (8), and (9) respectively, pointing out the places where theoretical commitments enter. Section (10) sums up commitments that have emerged from a sympathetic defence of a modest reading of the meaning-and-use connection.

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