Self-Assessment Question and Possible Answer

1. Briefly write about Wittgenstein's notion of 'form-of life'.

Ans.: Speaking of language is part of a communal activity. It is through participating in the common language-game that language is connected with our life (PG 65). In this connection Wittgenstein enunciates that language-game encompasses the notion 'form-of-life'. This is so because language communicates in a community-based society. In a society though we find the different patterns of behavior among the individuals yet there is an underlying unity is found among these behavioral differences. The underlying unity is the understanding of one another's language. This understanding is possible because of the uniformity that is found in the community. Wittgenstein calls this the 'form-of-life' within which individuals in a community participate.