A social theory of language

Ludwig Wittgenstein and the current theoretical debate

Bibliographic Data

ID20156050
AuthorsD J Schalkwyk, D J Van Schalkwyk (corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume1
Issue2
Pages43-58
Publication date1985-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Literary Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0256-4718 • E-ISSN: 1753-5387
PublisherUnisa Press (PUBLISHER • ZA)
DOI10.1080/02564718508529752
OpenAlexW2140263884
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited16

This article attempts to introduce the work of the later Wittgenstein into the current debate on critical theory in order to suggest the essentially social nature of both criticism and theory. It briefly sketches Wittgenstein's theory of language and meaning after the Tractatus, emphasizing his concept of language games and the fact that particular language games (including those involving the study of literature) spring from and are sustained by specific ‘forms of life’. The most important aspects of Wittgenstein's philosophy of language for the article are (a) his definition of meaning as use, (b) the denial that meaning is a mental event or a product of pre‐linguistic consciousness, and (c) the suggestion that language stems from a variety of social practices which control and make possible various forms of discourse, or language games. The article then argues that debates about theory within literature are sustained by social factors ‐ the struggle between ‘abnormal’ and ‘normal’ discourse, or the shifting of theoretical paradigms are fundamentally tied up with ways of living within a particular social matrix. It finally argues that we should cease to define literature by searching for an essential property that is common to all ‘literary objects’, but, following Wittgenstein's maxim that ‘meaning is use’, we should define literature by its use within a particular community

Denial · Epistemology · Language-game · Linguistics · Maxim · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Computer Science · Philosophy · Psychology · Wittgensteinian philosophy and applications

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