“A philosophical problem has the form: 'I don't know my way about.' Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language. The clarity we are after is complete clarity.”
Wittgenstein diagnoses philosophical confusion as linguistic confusion. When we don't understand how a word is used, we imagine hidden essences or deep mysteries. Therapy is clarification: showing how the word is actually used in language-games.
This therapeutic approach to philosophy influenced Wittgenstein's later followers (the 'therapeutic' reading of Wittgenstein). Rather than solving problems, we dissolve them by understanding language use. This was liberating—many philosophical problems evaporate when language is clarified.
Commentary
Wittgenstein diagnoses philosophical confusion as linguistic confusion. When we don't understand how a word is used, we imagine hidden essences or deep mysteries. Therapy is clarification: showing how the word is actually used in language-games.
This therapeutic approach to philosophy influenced Wittgenstein's later followers (the 'therapeutic' reading of Wittgenstein). Rather than solving problems, we dissolve them by understanding language use. This was liberating—many philosophical problems evaporate when language is clarified.