Il gioco linguistico numero due

Abstract

The Language Game No. 2 - After spelling out what I consider to be the philosophical significance of the Builders’ game in Wittgenstein’s philosophical writings after 1930, I will concentrate on the Builders’ game as it is presented and discussed in PI. In particular, I will focus on the bearing of the idea primitiveness on the notions of thinking and of concept mastery that Wittgenstein sees implicit in the Augustinian picture of language. In the second part of my paper I will deal with the (different) criticisms raised by Rhees and Brandom as regards the Builders’ game, and I will argue that languagegame No. 2 and its extensions are a good starting for an investigating the relationship between action, speech and thought. In the third part of my paper I focus on the other end of the spectrum, away from primitiveness and well into the jungle of our sophisticated language-games. Following in the footsteps of the Builders’, I suggest that we draw a parallel between Wittgenstein’s technique of extending a primitive language and Dummett’s employment of the notion of a conservative extension for exploring the idea of harmony between the different aspects of our use of words and sentences.