Game Against Picture: A Comparative Analysis of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Language Theories

This study is a comparative Analysis of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Language Game Theory as against his Picture Theory. The attempt by Wittgenstein to dissolve the philosophical problem of language had brought about two unique theories of language: picture theory of meaning and meaning as use in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations respectively. This paper employed the method of content and textual analysis. This work finds and observed that Wittgenstein saw language as a descriptive activity that ought to mirror the world. Hence, in speaking about the world, elementary proposition should represent atomic facts. His latter concept: meaning as use took a U-turn, recognizing the social and instrumental function of language. However, in spite of the uniqueness of both perspectives of language by Wittgenstein, in our comparative analysis, we argued in support of his latter view: meaning as use. The usage of language is an activity that is a quintessential hallmark of humans and human society. This paper therefore recommends and concludes that, unlike the picture theory of meaning that narrowly emphasizes the symbolic or representative function of language, the concept of meaning as use is less rigid and accommodates the intricate and diverse functions of language beyond the parochial function of merely ensuring that elementary propositions mirror atomic fact.