Wittgenstein and Language Games; Getting back to the rough ground

In “Philosophical Investigations”, published in 1958, Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian born Cambridge scholar, expressed his thoughts concerning language. Wittgenstein proposed the idea that philosophy aims to clear up the conceptual confusions that caused by untested use of language. The concept of language-games points at the rule-governed character of language. However, language games do not demand strict and definite systems of rules for every language game, but point to the conventional nature of this type of human activity. Wittgenstein’s hypothesis found its way beyond philosophy. Close observation of the nature of arts and politics resembles that of the nature of games. This book provides a critical analysis of the concept of language game and its prominence in contemporary social science and arts, with privilege of Wittgenstein’s general reflections on philosophy and linguistics.