EARLY AND LATER WITTGENSTEIN
Introduction
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein(1889 -
1951) was an Austrian philosopher and logician, and has come to be
considered one of the 20th Century's most important philosophers, if
not the most important.[1]Both
his early and later work (which are entirely different and
incompatible, even though both focus mainly on the valid and invalid uses
of language) have been major influences in the development
of Analytic Philosophy and Philosophy of Language. [2]His
significance has been primarily in the areas of Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology,
the Philosophy of Mind, the Philosophy of Language and
the Philosophy of Mathematics. However, his influence has
extended beyond what is normally considered philosophy, and may be found
in various areas of the social sciences (including social therapy,
psychology, psychotherapy and anthropology) and the arts.[3]
By showing the application of modern logic
to metaphysics, via language, he provided new insights into the relations
between world, thought and language and thereby into the nature of philosophy.
It is the later Wittgenstein, mostly recognized in the Philosophical
Investigations, who took the more revolutionary step in critiquing all of
traditional philosophy including its climax in his own early work. The nature
of his new philosophy is heralded as anti-systematic through and through, yet
still conducive to genuine philosophical understanding of traditional problems.[4]
In this paper, we shall discuss in details, the life of Wittgenstein, his early
and later work, similarities and differences between his early and later works,
before giving a final conclusion.
Biographical
Sketch
Wittgenstein was born on April 26, 1889 in
Vienna, Austria. In 1908 he began his studies in aeronautical engineering at
Manchester University where his interest in the philosophy of pure mathematics
led him to Frege. In 1911 he went to Cambridge to study under Bertrand Russell.[5]
During his years in Cambridge, from 1911
to 1913, Wittgenstein conducted several conversations on philosophy and the foundations
of logic with Russell, with whom he had an emotional and intense relationship,
as well as with Moore and Keynes. He retreated to isolation in Norway, for
months at a time, in order to ponder these philosophical problems and to work
out their solutions. In 1913 he returned to Austria and in 1914, at the start
of World War I (1914-1918), joined the Austrian army. He was taken captive in
1918 and spent the remaining months of the war at a prison camp. It was during
the war that he wrote the notes and drafts of his first important
work, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. After the war the book was published
in German and translated into English.[6]
In 1920 Wittgenstein, now divorced from
philosophy (having, to his mind, solved all philosophical problems in
the Tractatus), gave away his part of his family’s fortune and pursued
several ‘professions’ (gardener, teacher, architect, etc.) in and around
Vienna. It was only in 1929 that he returned to Cambridge to resume his
philosophical vocation, after having been exposed to discussions on the
philosophy of mathematics and science with members of the Vienna Circle, whose
conception of logical empiricism was indebted to
his Tractatus account of logic as tautologous, and his philosophy as
concerned with logical syntax. During these first years in Cambridge his
conception of philosophy and its problems underwent dramatic changes that are
recorded in several volumes of conversations, lecture notes, and letters
(e.g., Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle, The Blue and Brown
Books, Philosophical Grammar). this period heralds a rejection of dogmatic
philosophy, including both traditional works and
the Tractatus itself.[7]
In the 1930s and 1940s Wittgenstein
conducted seminars at Cambridge, developing most of the ideas that he intended
to publish in his second book, Philosophical Investigations. These
included the turn from formal logic to ordinary language, novel reflections on
psychology and mathematics, and a general skepticism concerning philosophy’s
pretensions. For a few more years he continued his philosophical work, but this
was marked by a rich development of, rather than a turn away from, his second
phase. He traveled during this period to the United States and Ireland, and
returned to Cambridge, where he was diagnosed with cancer. Legend has it that,
at his death in 1951, his last words were “Tell them I’ve had a wonderful life”.[8]
Early
work
Wittgenstein's work falls into two
very distinct periods: an early period, culminating in the publication of
his ground-breaking Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus in 1921; and
a later period of largely unrelated (and indeed incompatible) work,
which was written over many years but not published until two years after his
death as "Philosophische Untersuchungen"("Philosophical Investigations").[9]
These were major contributions to twenty century philosophy of language.
His early work on the
foundations of Logic and his philosophy in general were deeply
influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer and Immanuel Kant, as well as
by the new systems of Logic put forward by Bertrand
Russell and Gottlob Frege.
Clearly, tractatus addresses the central
problems of philosophy which deal with the world, thought and language, and
presents a ‘solution’ (as Wittgenstein terms it) of these problems that is grounded
in logic and in the nature of representation.[10]
The "early" Wittgenstein
worked closely with Russell and shared his conviction that the use of
mathematical logic held great promise for an understanding of the world. In the
tightly-structured declarations of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,
Wittgenstein tried to spell out precisely what a logically constructed language
can (and cannot) be used to say. Its seven basic propositions simply state that
language, thought, and reality share a common structure, fully expressible in
logical terms.[11]
The "Tractatus" attempted
to define the limits of Logic in understanding the
world. It claimed that the world consists of independent atomic
facts (existing states of affairs) out of which larger facts are built, an
idea that later became known as Logical Atomism and was further
developed by Bertrand Russell. Language too consists of atomic
(and then larger-scale) propositions that correspond to the
facts of the world by sharing the same "logical form".[12]
the world consists entirely of facts.
Human beings are aware of the facts by virtue of our mental representations or
thoughts, which are most fruitfully understood as picturing the way
things are. These thoughts are, in turn, expressed in propositions, whose form
indicates the position of these facts within the nature of reality as a whole
and whose content presents the truth-conditions under which they correspond to
that reality.[13]
Wittgenstein argued for a representational
theory of language. He described this as a ‘picture theory’ of language:
reality (‘the world’) is a vast collection of facts that we can picture in
language, assuming that our language has an adequate logical form. ‘The world
is the totality of facts, not of things’, Wittgenstein claimed, and these facts
are structured in a logical way.[14]
Wittgenstein understood language to be akin to the "picture-theory"
of composition. In other words, words are symbolic to some physical thing in
the world and there is a strict correspondence between words and the objects
they represent. [15]
language is meaningful because its logical
form mirrors the logical form of reality. The relationship between the words we
use reflects the relationship between that which the words describe — between
objects in the real world.[16]
The key to understanding
the "Tractatus" is Wittgenstein's picture theory of
meaning. He drew an analogy between the way
that pictures represent the world and the way
that language (and sentences it is made up of) represent reality and
states of affairs, and he asserted that thoughts, as expressed in
language, "picture" the facts of the world. Furthermore,
the structure of language is determined by the structure of
reality, and we are able to talk about reality not just because we
have words that stand for things, but because the words within a
sentence have a relationship to each
other that corresponds to the relationship things have to each
other in the world. Indeed, Wittgenstein claimed that, unless
language mirrored reality in this way, it would be impossible for
sentences to have any meaning.[17]
Propositions correspond to the world and
reality. For instance one would say, "There is a black wooden table
outside" this statement would picture a black wooden table which is
outside at this present moment. The names within the sentence picture actual
objects in the world and the whole statement pictures reality as it is.
According to Wittgenstein they are the facts which make up the world, not
things, and these facts are state of affaires. He believes that the state of
affairs determines the proposition and that the proposition is a picture of
what reality really is. By analyzing the picture-proposition one can derive
meaning from reality. Wittgenstein's so-called picture theory of language
brings the thought that there is a strong connection between sense and
verification. Words in a sentence only make sense in relation to the
whole sentence and the context itself. For Wittgenstein all propositions are
either true or false and he is trying to show what can be correctly stated as
meaningful language. He says that values, ethics, and religious claims are
not in the world. "Ethics cannot be put into words. Ethics is
transcendental".[18]
Later
work
By the
time Wittgenstein returned to Cambridge in 1928, however, he had
begun to question the truth of his earlier pronouncements.[19]
Wittgenstein became increasingly dissatisfied with his account of the way
language operates, discovering more and more different types of sentences that
didn't seem to work in the way assumed in his picture theory.[20]
Wittgenstein’s shift in thinking, between
the Tractatus and the Investigations, maps the general shift in 20th
century philosophy from logical positivism to behaviourism and pragmatism.
It is a shift from seeing language as a fixed structure imposed upon the world
to seeing it as a fluid structure that is intimately bound up with our everyday
practices and forms of life. Wittgenstein adjusted his previous view that
language could be reduced to its most basic parts, and instead said that
language was a relationship. Language, for Wittgenstein, was an active force,
that bonded people to one another. [21]
For later Wittgenstein, creating
meaningful statements is not a matter of mapping the logical form of the world.
It is a matter of using conventionally-defined terms within ‘language games’
that we play out in the course of everyday life. ‘In most cases, the meaning of
a word is its use’, Wittgenstein claimed, in perhaps the most famous passage in
the Investigations. It isn’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it,
and the context in which you say it. Words are how you use them.[22]
Communication, on this model, involves using conventional terms in a way that
is recognized by a linguistic community.
Language for Wittgenstein is just
language-games, thus the only way to understand language is to understand its
language game. Wittgenstein argues that the meaning of language is defined on
how it is used in any particular language-game. However the use of a word, is
not given to any sort of constructive theory building, as in
the Tractatus. Rather, when investigating meaning, the philosopher must
"look and see" the variety of uses to which the word is put and such
looking is done with reference to particular cases, not thoughtful
generalizations. "The meaning of a word is its use in the language".
For instance the word materialism has two different meanings in different
language-games. In metaphysics it means that the basic substance of reality is
completely material, but in political theory and economics, materialism is
defined as the obsession with wealth and material things such as money, homes
or cars. The understanding and meaning is different in each situation, thus one
needs to understand the meaning of the word in its context.[23]
Wittgenstein’s view of language as social
practice is instructive for anyone who seeks to communicate clearly and
effectively. Writers and communicators are always told to think about the
audience that they are speaking to and to craft their communiques accordingly.
Wittgenstein’s philosophy pushes this point of view beyond linguistics into
ethnography. In order to communicate with a social tribe, listen to how they
play with language. In many cases, slang, banter, and jokes are not poorly
structured ‘secondary’ forms of communication, but a coded means of crafting
pointed exchanges within a community.[24]
Wittgenstein’s
work can be summarized as follows:
Early
work
- Univocity
for each word
- Picture
theory of meaning with an assumption of isomorphism
- Essentialism,
Universal grammar, Logical structure behind all language and the world
- Referential
understanding of language
- Prescriptive
orientation: need to reform language[25]
Later
work
- Equivocity
of most words
- Language
games that connect words with activities
- Non-essentialism/functionalism,
Family resemblances, Rejection of the Socratic notion of universal
definition and forms
- Functional
understanding of language
- Descriptive
orientation: accept language as it is[26]
Similarities
of the earlier and later work.
Wittgenstein maintains in all his early
and later works that philosophy is an activity of clarifying propositions and
preventing us from being led off track by the misleading appearances of
ordinary language. His view of language-games seems to completely go against
the logical positivist's view of language. He preferred ordinary language over
philosophical language because philosophical language in itself creates
problems of definitions. [27]
He discussed language in his earlier and later work.
Differences
of Wittgenstein earlier and later work
Wittgenstein was not referring to ordinary
everyday conversational language, in his early work but to
the "elementary sentences" which underlie ordinary
language, and which can be distilled out of everyday language by analysis.
Thus, Wittgenstein claimed that we can analyze our thoughts and sentences
to "express" (in the sense of "show", not
"say") their true logical form, but those we cannot so
analyze cannot be meaningfully discussed, and so should not even be spoken
of. He believed that the whole of philosophy essentially consists
of no more than this form of analysis, and that non-factual concepts
such as those in the fields
of Ethics, Religion and Aesthetics were effectively
unsayable and meaningless.[28]
In the "Philosophical
Investigations", Wittgenstein moved away from the picture analogy and
towards a "tool" or "use" analogy. He
claimed that words should be thought of as tools and that, in most
cases at least, the meaning of a word is just its use in
the language. Thus, completely contrary to the picture theory of meaning,
the structure of language determines what we think of as
reality. Also, although a picture can only give one representation of
reality, a tool can have many different uses (and so, therefore, can
words, particularly when used in different circumstances or in different types
of conversation). He likened the various different meanings a word could have
to family resemblances, which can have common features, criss-crossing similarities
or overlapping relationships but nevertheless remain distinct and
unique.[29]
Conclusion
From the discussion so far, it is obvious
that the difference between the earlier and later Wittgenstein, lies in the
method employed to clarify propositions. The earlier method of philosophy was
to analyze propositions in order to reveal their hidden logical structure,
however the later Wittgenstein, while still maintaining that the task of
philosophy is to critique language, and states that the method to clarify
propositions is to show how they are applied in language games. This later
method is concerned with the grammar of language and how language is used; it
has nothing to do with criticizing the nature of language. [30]
Reference
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Hacker,
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Ludwig
Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle: Conversations Recorded by Friedrich
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Ludwig
Wittgenstein: Public and Private Occasions, 2003, J. Klagge and A. Nordmann
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Malcolm,
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[1] Luke
Mastin, The Basics of Philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
www.philosopybasics.com/philosophers_wittgenstein.html
[4] Biletzki, Anat and
Matar, Anat, “Ludwig Wittgenstein”, The
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta
(ed.),
[5] Biletzki, Anat and
Matar, Anat, “Ludwig Wittgenstein”, The
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta
(ed.)
[8] Biletzki, Anat and
Matar, Anat, “Ludwig Wittgenstein”, The
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta
(ed.),
[9] Luke
Mastin, The Basics of Philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
www.philosopybasics.com/philosophers_wittgenstein.html
[10] Biletzki, Anat and
Matar, Anat, “Ludwig Wittgenstein”, The
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta
(ed.),
[11] Garth
Kemerling, Ludwig Wittgenstein: Analysis of Language. http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/6s.htm,
2011
[12] Luke
Mastin, The Basics of Philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
www.philosopybasics.com/philosophers_wittgenstein.html
[13] Garth
Kemerling, Ludwig Wittgenstein: Analysis of Language. http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/6s.htm,
2011
[14] Timrayner,
Philosophy for change. https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/meaning-is-use-wittgenstein-on-the-limits-of-language/amp/
[15] Reverendlovejoy25,
Answers Home. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071126085616AAWCJKn
[16] Oneguy2008,
Ask philosophy. 2015 https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/2zo9so/explain_to_me_like_the_difference_between_late/
[17] Luke
Mastin, The Basics of Philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
www.philosopybasics.com/philosophers_wittgenstein.html
[18] Uk
Essays, 2015. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/philosophy/compare-and-contrast-wittgenstein-early-and-later-conception-philosophy-essay.php
[19] Garth
Kemerling, Ludwig Wittgenstein: Analysis of Language. http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/6s.htm,
2011
[20] Uk
Essays, 2015. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/philosophy/compare-and-contrast-wittgenstein-early-and-later-conception-philosophy-essay.php
[21] Reverendlovejoy25,
Answers Home. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071126085616AAWCJKn
[22] Timrayner,
Philosophy for change https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/meaning-is-use-wittgenstein-on-the-limits-of-language/amp/
[23] Uk
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[24] Timrayner,
Philosophy for change https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/meaning-is-use-wittgenstein-on-the-limits-of-language/amp/
[25]
http://www.philosophy.uncc.edu/wcgay/plearlylatewitt.htm
[26]
http://www.philosophy.uncc.edu/wcgay/plearlylatewitt.htm
[27] Uk
Essays, 2015. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/philosophy/compare-and-contrast-wittgenstein-early-and-later-conception-philosophy-essay.php
[28] Luke
Mastin, The Basics of Philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
www.philosopybasics.com/philosophers_wittgenstein.html
[30] Uk
Essays, 2015. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/philosophy/compare-and-contrast-wittgenstein-early-and-later-conception-philosophy-essay.php
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