Wittgenstein's later philosophy argues

Can words mean different things depending on how we use them?

Imagine you're at a dinner party, and someone asks you to pass the salt. You hand them a pepper shaker instead. Why did this happen?

Meaning isn't just about what words refer to; it's about how we use them in context. In this scenario, the word "salt" didn't mean what you thought it meant because of the context of the conversation.

Example

You thought "salt" meant a white, flaky seasoning, but in the context of dinner, it meant a different item altogether.

Remember this

Wittgenstein's later philosophy argues that meaning is use, not reference.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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