Everyday use Quote by Anthony Kenny
““Like the positivists, Wittgenstein was hostile to metaphysics. But he attacked metaphysics not with a blunt instrument like the verification principle, but by the careful drawing of distinctions that enable him to disentangle the mixture of truism and nonsense within metaphysical systems. ‘When philosophers use a word—‘‘knowledge’’, ‘‘being’’, ‘‘object’’, ‘‘I’’, ‘‘proposition’’, ‘‘name’’—and try to grasp the essence of the thing, one must always ask oneself: is the word ever actually used in this way in the language which is its original home? What we do is to bring words back from their metaphysical to their everyday use’ (PI I, 116).””
About This Quote
Critiques metaphysics by urging return to ordinary language use, exposing hidden nonsense.
In simple terms: Use everyday language, avoid abstract misuse.
Key Takeaway
Ground philosophy in common speech.
Themes
language
philosophy
clarity
Mood
analytical
inquisitive
Type
advice
philosophical
When to use this quote
- academic discourse
- public debate
- education curricula
Key Concepts
analytic philosophy
Wittgensteinian method
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we preserve depth while simplifying?
- What limits does everyday language have?
A Different Perspective
Complex ideas may resist simplification.
![“Our craving for generality has [as one] source … our preoccupation with the method of science. I mean the method of reducing the explanation of natural phenomena to the smallest possible number of primitive natural laws; and, in mathematics, of unifying the treatment of different topics by using a…” quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/088/ludwig-wittgenstein-582_generality_our-craving-for-generality-has-as-one-so_2998590.jpg)
![“[I]nternalized experiences of selfhood are linked to autobiographical narratives, which are linked to biographies, legal testimonies, and medical case histories, which are linked to forms of therapy and theories of the subject. . .” quote by Anthony Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b95/anthony-kenny-105540_autobiographical_i-nternalized-experiences-of-selfhood-ar_2310620.jpg)
