• Essentialism,  Wittgenstein

    Wittgensteinian Anti-Essentialism

    Ludwig Wittgenstein Essentialism suggests that a word is a sign for a meaning which correlates to an object. The way words connect with the world is by picturing a state of affairs by the use of names/signs which have determinative meanings. The object in the world has a sign. The meaning is the object in the world. The essence of the word is the meaning, the object. This, it is assumed, is known through the pointing and repeating the name of the object you are pointing to. This is an ostensive definition. To ostensibly define something is to point at something and say its name. For example, I can point at a chair, and say, “chair.” My…