Why does communication between people go wrong? According to Ludwig Wittgenstein, it's because the words we use make pictures in our minds but do not create the same picture in the minds of our listeners. Introduce young philosophers to Wittgenstein's ideas with a short video.

Concepts

oral language, philosophers

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Assign pairs of speaker/listeners; the speaker selects a phrase, draws a picture of the phrase, and then shares the phrase with the partner who draws a picture

Classroom Considerations

• Most appropriate for high school or college level philosophy clases

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• The illustrations used in the video make clear Wittgenstein's ideas

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.11-12.2