Form of life (philosophy)
Encyclopedia
Form of life is a non-technical term used by Ludwig Wittgenstein
and others in the analytic philosophy
and philosophy of language
traditions. While the term is often used in various ways by Wittgenstein, it connotes the sociological, historical, linguistic, physiological, and behavioral determinants that comprise the matrix within which a given language has meaning. Although akin to and perhaps based on Spengler's civilization model
, Wittgenstein never used the term dogmatically but rather non-theoretically.
Comments about a form of life are not explanations meant to comprehend any concept as a whole. Comments about a concept are simple, non-controversial, statements of ordinary understanding. Once strung together, however, the remarks illuminate something that is supposedly already understood. This illumination comes about because the human animal engages various forms of life, that vary but agree at the most basic levels. This explains how, for example, travelers from one culture to another can understand the other culture's language, customs, and behavior. (See Wittgenstein, "Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough")
In response to a question from an imagined interlocutor, Wittgenstein notes the following:
Ordinarily, humans do not step away from their activities to justify how or why they do or say what they do. Indeed, some questions asked in a scientific way, for example, will reflect a particular form of life.
When such questions do arise, a philosophical investigation will involve reminding the questioner of certain things they take for granted and which, when noted, can help dissolve the question. The remarks make what we sometimes find confusing less troublesome, if need be. We simply do what we do because we assume a given form of life, which gives any understanding I might have of it or myself or the world meaning. Form of life makes meaning itself possible.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
and others in the analytic philosophy
Analytic philosophy
Analytic philosophy is a generic term for a style of philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century...
and philosophy of language
Philosophy of language
Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language. As a topic, the philosophy of language for analytic philosophers is concerned with four central problems: the nature of meaning, language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language...
traditions. While the term is often used in various ways by Wittgenstein, it connotes the sociological, historical, linguistic, physiological, and behavioral determinants that comprise the matrix within which a given language has meaning. Although akin to and perhaps based on Spengler's civilization model
Spengler's civilization model
Oswald Spengler's civilization model appears as three tables, each in a three-page long folded sheet, inserted between pages 68 and 69 of the first volume of his Der Untergang des Abendlandes, in the definitive edition published under the author's care by C. H. Beck in Munich, in 1931...
, Wittgenstein never used the term dogmatically but rather non-theoretically.
Comments about a form of life are not explanations meant to comprehend any concept as a whole. Comments about a concept are simple, non-controversial, statements of ordinary understanding. Once strung together, however, the remarks illuminate something that is supposedly already understood. This illumination comes about because the human animal engages various forms of life, that vary but agree at the most basic levels. This explains how, for example, travelers from one culture to another can understand the other culture's language, customs, and behavior. (See Wittgenstein, "Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough")
In response to a question from an imagined interlocutor, Wittgenstein notes the following:
- "So you are saying that human agreement decides what is true and what is false?" -- It is what human beings say that is true and false; and they agree in the language they use. That is not agreement in opinions but in form of life. (Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, para. 241 [emphasis in original])
Ordinarily, humans do not step away from their activities to justify how or why they do or say what they do. Indeed, some questions asked in a scientific way, for example, will reflect a particular form of life.
When such questions do arise, a philosophical investigation will involve reminding the questioner of certain things they take for granted and which, when noted, can help dissolve the question. The remarks make what we sometimes find confusing less troublesome, if need be. We simply do what we do because we assume a given form of life, which gives any understanding I might have of it or myself or the world meaning. Form of life makes meaning itself possible.