(61%) 6th July 1993
             ON CERTAINTY
             Is anything of significance lost in giving up the idea of
             absolute truth?
             Throughout 'On Certainty', Wittgenstein's aim is to remove the
             false pictures created by traditional philosophers, by uncovering
             the true way that our language functions in our lives, and
             showing the irreconcilable difference between this and the way
             that philosophers use language in different situations. While
             Wittgenstein criticises the theories of traditional philosophers,
             he himself does not come up with an alternative theory, as it is
             the theorising of philosophers that he sees as creating much of
             At the base of all of Wittgenstein's writing in 'On Certainty'
             is the notion of language games. According to Wittgenstein, all
             that we say only gets any meaning when seen in context. That is,
             looking just at what we actually say will tell you nothing, but
             you must look at the way that what you say fits in with the
             language game employed. Wittgenstein uses the term 'language
             game' to describe the way that we use our language in a
             particular circumstance for a certain purpose. For instance, the
             language game employed in describing the world is likely to be
             different to that used in greeting a friend.
             Wittgenstein's rejection of absolute truth can be seen as
             stemming both from the way that our language games originate, and
             the clear differences that can be seen within them. Our language
             game originates from and is shaped by the way that we live our
             lives. It has developed to be the most effective way of
             describing what we think and how we behave. "...A meaning of a
             word is a kind of employment of it. For it is what we learn when
             the word is incorporated into our language." (Ludwig
             Wittgenstein, On Certainty 61). So to understand a language game
             according to Wittgenstein, i...