Wittgenstein's Forms of Life, Patterns of Life and Ways of Living

Moyal-Sharrock, Daniele (2015) Wittgenstein's Forms of Life, Patterns of Life and Ways of Living. Nordic Wittsgenstein Studies, Octobe. pp. 21-42.

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This paper aims to distinguish Wittgenstein's concept of 'form of life' from other concepts or expressions that have been confused or conflated with it, such as 'language-game', 'certainty', 'patterns of life', 'ways of living' and 'facts of living'. Competing interpretations of Wittgenstein's 'form(s) of life' are reviewed (Baker & Hacker, Cavell, Conway, Garver), and it is concluded that Wittgenstein intended both a singular and a plural use of the concept; with, where the human is concerned, a single human form of life characterized by innumerable forms of human life.

Item Type	Article
Additional information	This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Nordic Wittgenstein Review following peer review. The version of record (first published October 10, 2015) is available at Nordic Wittgenstein Review via http://www.nordicwittgensteinreview.com/article/view/3362/pdf
Keywords	wittgenstein, forms of life, patterns of life, language-game, certainty
Date Deposited	15 May 2025 13:07
Last Modified	25 Feb 2026 01:05