Philosophers often behave like little children who scribble some marks on a piece of paper at random and then ask the grown-up 'What's that?' - It happened like this: the grown-up had drawn pictures for the child several times and said 'this is a man,' 'this is a house,' etc. And then the child makes some marks too and asks: what's this then? (p. 17e)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Wittgenstein criticizes philosophers for creating arbitrary symbols or claims without grounding them in established use, then asking for their meaning as if they were obvious.
- In plain terms
- Philosophers make up ideas and ask what they mean without showing how they are used.
- What can you take from it?
- Philosophical claims need context or usage to have clear meaning.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes a symbol meaningful?
- How do we learn language rules?
Another view
The metaphor oversimplifies the complex motivations behind philosophical theorizing.
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