Ludwig Wittgenstein
1889-1951
Wittgenstein was monumental! He developed methods that showed the subtleties of language because these same methods clarify our concepts, our expressions, and our thinking!
James Klagge:
Socrates famously sought essential definitions for concepts such as Truth, Justice, Knowledge, Goodness, Beauty, etc. This search for the definition or essential nature of things is the very paradigm of philosophical or conceptual analysis. But according to Wittgenstein, such abstract terms do not have or do not need to have an underlying essence which all the particular instances have in common.
Euclidean geometry starts with definitions and derives precise conclusions. It seems likely that Socrates was trying to imitate this approach because he always tried to start with definitions. Wittgenstein showed why this approach was wrong. For over two thousand years no one saw the problem, but today any philosopher of Ordinary Language can explain it. This is a reason for optimism because there is room for most everyone including our smartest leaders to be more accurate.
Wittgenstein:
The idea that in order to get clear about the meaning of a general term one had to find the common element [the essence] in all its applications has shackled philosophical investigation; for it has not only led to no result, but also made the philosopher dismiss as irrelevant the concrete cases, which alone could have helped him understand the usage of the general term.
By exposing the greatest error in the history of Western philosophy, Wittgenstein established a new paradigm for accurate reasoning about the meaning of our expressions. This achievement is monumental because careful thinking is important for survival.
Wittgenstein noted the necessary existence of what President Obama calls "teaching opportunities." These are the occasions which provide the opportunity for an easy and objective judgement that demonstrates the clear use of a word, for example: “That had to hurt.” “That's a horse.” or “That's red.” These paradigmatic observations make what's called "ostensive definition" possible. “Ostension” is just a fancy word for pointing. Ostensive definition consists in showing the meaning of a word by demonstrating occasions for its employment. “That's a horse.” can be used to teach the rudimentary meaning of “horse” because it is natural for children to pay attention to a large unknown animal that is nearby.
Wittgenstein:
The common behavior [≈ 'shared judgments'] of mankind is the system of reference by means of which we interpret an unknown language.
In other words, learning a language would be impossible if we didn't normally agree in judgments about a stable objective reality that naturally interests and involves us. Ordinary Language Philosophy derives from the idea that all meaningful language is made possible by reference to our shared judgements about this one and only reality that we can talk about together.
For philosophers before Wittgenstein, the meaning of your statement was determined by something mental like a memory inside your head. For Wittgenstein the meaning of words is determined by their established customary usage within a community of speakers.
Wittgenstein famously argued against the possibility of a strictly subjective, “private,” or “mental” paradigm for an ostensive definition. This ‘Private Language Argument’ was monumental in the history of empiricist epistemology. Professor A.C. Grayling explains.
Always get rid of the idea of the private object in this way: assume that it constantly changes, but that you do not notice the change because your memory constantly deceives you.
Anything that can be said, can be said clearly… Anything that can be thought, can be thought clearly.
The clarity we are aiming at is indeed complete clarity.
A dog can expect his master to come; but a dog cannot expect his master to come next Wednesday.
The limits of my language are the limits of my world.
Language disguises thought.
The sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language.
Philosophical problems arise when language goes on holiday.
We must plow through the whole of language.
Language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it.