1. Wittgenstein By Jamie, Marco, Tom and Brad

2. The background Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889-26 April 1951) He was born in Vienna, Austria and died 62 years later in Cambridge, England of prostate cancer He was born into an extremely wealthy family, with 3 of his brothers committed suicide, he contemplated it also Brought up as a catholic after his mother converted from Judaism to Catholicism The youngest of 8 siblings- all of whom spent their childhood and early youth in Austria and all had a private tutor for the first years of tutoring

3. Following the suicide of his brother, the two youngest brothers were sent to a state school Following the suicide of another one of his brothers his strict father relaxed and allowed him to do almost as he wished 1908-1910, Ludwig went to Manchester university In 1911 he started to study at Cambridge university He left academics several times and served as an officer in world war I- where he was awarded several time for many things including; His courage Teaching in schools in remote villages Where he was controversial as he was known for beating children that made mistakes in mathematics

4. He also gained commandments for his work in world war II where he worked as a hospital porter in London, however was well known for telling patients not to take their prescribed medication

5. language Believed the meaning of a word is its use in the language. Believed the tools of language were fundamentally simple. Philosophers had obscured this simplicity by misusing language and asking meaningless questions. Investigations: “Der Fliege den Ausweg aus dem Fliegenglas zeigen” This means to show the fly the way out of the fly bottle.

6. Meaning is use Words are not defined by reference to the objects they designate, nor by associations we may have in our brains with different objects. This anthropological perspective contrasts with Plato’s realism.

7. Meaning and definition According to Wittgenstein, the meaning of a word presupposes our ability to use it. He uses the example of the word, “game”, in his investigations and shows that you cant find a viable definition for the word but we don’t need to because we use it correctly.

8. ‘Language Games’ Ludwig Wittgenstein focused on the uses language can be put to and was less concerned with the truth or falsity of language (disagreeing with Logical Positivists). He argued that words have no objective reference Language works through a series of ‘language games’ The problems with philosophy occur through the misunderstanding that words can be used in different language Believed meaning is all about observing convention Religion may be a ‘language game’

9. Disadvantage It could be too relative as it lets any assumptions/claims be equally valid Not clear whether Wittgenstein thought of religion as a ‘language game’, It implies that there could be no progress in philosophical debates Using his theory, language can never truly convey truth in an absolute sense.

10. Advantages Capture the essence of what it is to be religious Not to be philosophical in religion