Wittgenstein emphasised that thinking is subject of the will, and that philosophy is a tool to avoid bewitchment. It is important to emphasise the significance of knowledge as a core dimension on this website.
When people speak about language, literacy, numeracy and even learning, they tend to focus on skills and processes and competences, which do not necessarily engage with the content of understanding the world.
In my opinion, Wittgenstein was constantly grappling with the question of understanding the world, from the opening lines of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus ('the world is all that is the case") to the preoccupation with world pictures in On Certainty. He often asked his readers to investigate "what is the case" or "what is the state of affairs".
Therefore, I want to reinforce the sheer challenge that a learner is presented with when he or she must take the time to imagine, synthesise and build a picture of what really is going on in the investigation of any phenomena placed in the path.
“When we learn a new semiotic domain in a more active way, not as passive content, three things are at stake: First, we learn to experience (see, feel, and operate on) the world in new ways. Second, ... we gain the potential to join this social group ... Third, we gain resources that prepare us for future learning and problem solving in the domain, and, perhaps, more importantly, in related domains. Three things, then, are involved in active learning: experiencing the world in new ways, forming new affiliations, and preparation for future learning (Bransford & Schwartz 1999; Gee 2000-2001).” (Gee, 2003, pg. 32)
“Few scholars would have been more comfortable with the importance Socrates gave to ‘living speech’ and the value of dialogue in the pursuit of development than Lev Vygotsky. In his classic work Thought and Language, Vygotsky described the intensively generative relationship between word and thought and between teacher and learner. Like Socrates, Vygotsky held that social interaction plays a pivotal role in developing a child’s ever-deepening relationship between words and concepts.” (Wolf, 2008, p 73)
“Wittgenstein seems to hope that the individuals can get away from a particular picture and can make a difference, at least for herself. In the context of philosophy he speaks of giving up the questions that do not make sense and says that this is a kind of resignation and act of the will. Clearly for him there seems to be a kind of hope that is possible after all to resist certain temptations of the time. This might require particular cognitive acts, but clearly something emotional is involved as well.” (Smeyers, 2010, pg 98)
“Of course, only if you adopt Western physics will you be able to fly to the moon. But an Indian may ask what sense it makes to do that, and the discussion of the senses and values is connected to many other issues of a world-picture. The claim that x is better than y in respect of z obviously rests on certain assumptions or convictions - not to say: certainties - concerning the importance of z and is therefore anchored in or dependent on a form of life and its world-picture.” (Kober, 1996, pg. 432)
When we refer to knowledge, we are referring to both the content of knowledge and the systems in which knowledge is arranged. One key concern is knowledge of the world. Knowledge, though, is highly dependent upon communities of practice and their beliefs and practices. We become conscious that certain forms of knowledge arise out of particular historical and cultural conditions. If we were to imagine another time and place, we could imagine altogether different and distinct systems of knowledge. Continue to the glossary ...