The meaning of a word emerges in its use
“The meaning of a word is its use in the language.”
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At a glance
- Statements such as ‘I need to be more prepared,’ ‘I should act responsibly,’ or ‘I want to succeed’ sound meaningful, yet what they ask us to do changes from one situation to another. Wittgenstein suggests that we look for the meaning of a word not only in a dictionary definition but in how people use it in particular circumstances.
- When judgment stalls, we can examine the conversation and action in which an abstract term appears instead of trying to think more deeply about the term in isolation.
- Once the meaning becomes concrete, the next action may become visible as well.
Today’s reflection
On Frege’s advice, Wittgenstein went to Cambridge to study with Bertrand Russell and investigate problems of logic and language. His early Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus examined the logical relations among world, thought, and language. In the later Philosophical Investigations, he shifted attention to the many ways language functions in ordinary life. Reporting, asking, commanding, joking, and thanking are among the activities he described as language-games. Today’s English sentence is a short direct quotation from §43; the Korean is a natural translation.
- A word’s meaning does not wait outside the sentence as a fixed object. Meaning becomes clearer when we examine who uses the word, in what situation, and to do what.
- The same word can do different work in different language-games. Responsibility may require an apology in one setting, a division of roles in another, and a report of results in a third.
- Examining language need not delay action. Translating an abstract term into an observable standard and a next step joins thought to practice.
This perspective is immediately useful in meetings and decisions. People can all agree on phrases such as ‘customer focus,’ ‘sufficient preparation,’ and ‘high quality’ while imagining different behaviors. Ask who must do what, in which situation, for the phrase to count as fulfilled. That turns a debate over abstract definitions into a shared standard that can be observed and a next action that can be taken.
Practice for today
Choose one abstract word that is clouding a current decision—perhaps stability, success, responsibility, or readiness.
- write down a recent situation in which you used the word.
- translate what the word asks for in that situation into one observable action or result.
- state what evidence would show that the standard has been met.
- choose one small action or clarifying question you can complete today.
Question for today
If I translate one abstract word I am holding onto into a concrete situation and action, how will my next judgment change?
Readers’ Reflections
What did this bring to mind? A few lines are enough.
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