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"Language games"

“… the meanings of words in language are obtained from the language games in which they participate. Thus, all observation statements are theory-dependent, not statements of ‘reality’. Moreover, the truth of observation statements - or science in general - is related to an individual's language game. And Wittgenstein would contend there is a plurality of truths. For the social scientist the task is one of elucidating the values, propositions, beliefs, etc. which are felt to be true within a particular communication community or language game.”
Rudy Hirschheim. 1992. “Information Systems Epistemology: An Historical Perspective.” In Information Systems Research: Issues, Methods and Practical Guidelines. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Information-Systems-Epistemology%3A-an-Historical-Hirschheim/404984b5d8b278bf256f77c88babd14c6446755b.


last updated november 2018