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Language Games

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Definition

Language Games is a later-Wittgensteinian concept that treats meaning through concrete practices such as commanding, questioning, reporting, promising, and correcting rather than through an abstract word-world mapping alone.

Background

In Philosophical Investigations, meaning is understood through use within forms of life, connecting language to rules, understanding, and shared practice.

Position

It is a base concept for analyzing LLM outputs not only by asking whether the system understands, but by asking what kind of move the output becomes in human linguistic practice.

Distinctions

  • It is not game theory or entertainment; it is a philosophical metaphor for varied practices of language use.
  • Language games are not specific to LLMs, but they are useful for analyzing how LLM utterances are taken up by humans.

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A concept map for Language Games.

Page Context

  • Language Games, Intentionality, and LLMs
    Language Games, Intentionality, and LLMs 1. Executive Summary The philosophical question raised by LLMs is not only whether they possess inner understanding. A more useful quest...
    Quote: Language Games, Intentionality, and LLMs

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