Religious language as a language game- Wittgenstein

• why did Wittgenstein reject the verification and falsification principles?

  in his view religious claims are not like scientific ones:

  • the mistake made by philosophers like ayer and flew is to apply the language from the language game of science to religion
  • the meaning of a word derived from the context in which it is used
• words don't indicate an object but perform a function

  • its like playing chess, where the player needs to know the rules of the game, i.e. to understand how the words function in that particular context
  • Wittgenstein said we shouldn't ask for the meaning of a word but for the use
• language games are connected to a 'form of behaviour' (a form of social behaviour)

  • speaking is an activity in which words gain their sense.
• language is something that is learned from others

  • it is a part of learned behaviour, in which the tone in which the words are uttered indicates their significance.
• the word 'god' is not an object

  • it is a word used in religious contexts, e.g. in baptism
  • its meaning is in the context in which it is used
  • instead of asking, 'what is god?', the question should be 'in what contexts should that word be used?'
  • only those who belong to a religious tradition can fully understand and appreciate the emotion and aura surrounding religious statements such as 'god loves me'
  • this means that it isn't a single language game, given the number of widely varying religious traditions.
• religious language cannot be claimed to be true or false

  • its meaning is defined by the user within their religious language game
• strength of language games


  it allows a range of meaning for language rather than trying to put it in one 'box'.
• weakness of language games

  it is virtually impossible to enter into debate with those coming from another language game, e.g. that of atheism.
• strength & response of language games

  S: it allows for religious statements to be 'belief in'

  W: this is important, but most religious believers think that religious claims are also cognitive.
• language game


  wittgenstein's name for the idea that language has a meaning within a particular social context, each context being governed by rules in the same way that different games are governed by different rules. the meaning of a statement is nothing to do with verification/falsification but with the context in which it occurs. each context has its own rules.