Language Change and Imagination

Abstract

Taking up a remark from On certainty on alteration of meaning, a short account of
Wittgenstein’s position in respect of change in language is given, which results
in two different perspectives on the subject of alteration in language use.
Referring to passages from Philosophical Investigations a possible relation of
imagination and alteration of meaning is discussed. Finally this question is
related to accounts of metaphor given by Wittgenstein and Davidson, proposing a
conception of metaphor as a linguistic practice, which evokes the involvement of
imagination into the process of understanding.