Liv asked:

What is Wittgenstein's argument against Augustine's picture of language and why did he pick on him
and noone else? And is Wittgenstein's view of language noticeably more convincing than
Augustine's?

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I don't know whether this is a question that was given to you as part of your studies or whether it is
your own question. In either case it is a bit of a "trick" question.

Paradoxically Wittgenstein "picked on" St. Augustine because, in the first place, he regarded him with
the utmost respect, as one of the greatest thinkers (in the broadest sense) and writers that ever lived
— and he loved to read all St. Augustine's writings, and did so throughout his life. Secondly he
"picked on" him precisely because be believed Augustine had given a very clear and powerful
expression of a picture of language that, in various other forms, is very widespread in almost all
philosophical thinking and reflection, but which is a deeply misleading picture that results in all sorts
of confusions and false or misleading theories in philosophy. Wittgenstein felt that if such a great man
could hold such a problematic view of language then there must be something pretty important about
it!

And this brings us to the point that really Wittgenstein was most definitely not just "picking" on
Augustine "and no-one else"! In fact he was most certainly picking on himselfand the philosophical
theories that he had put forward more than twenty years earlier in the Tractatus,which were very
similar to Augustine's conception of language. And also, for the same reason, he is really, but
implicitly, arguing against the views of many other philosophers: from his contemporaries like Russell
and the Logical Positivists right back to the ancient Greeks.

You will need to bear in mind that very few philosophers would admit to openly and simplistically
believing in the "Augustinian picture of language" [very roughly that all words are names and that to
know the thing referred to by a word is to know its meaning]. However Wittgenstein's point is that this
"picture" is very deeply embedded in our thinking, almost subconscious one might say. It is a sort of
magnetic pole towards which philosophical reflection and theorising tends to gravitate in all manner of
subtle ways, and Wittgenstein believed that this tendency leads to misrepresentations and
misunderstanding of how language works, and so to philosophical confusion and misguided
theorising.

If you don't mind I am not going to do your homework for you and explain what Wittgenstein's
arguments against it were, and whether or not his views are more convincing. His basic arguments
against it and the alternatives he suggests are given in the early sections of the Philosophical
Investigations,which I trust you will have read. But for a full account of Wittgenstein's thinking on
these matters you would need to read much further, and I hope that you will. However in doing so
bear in mind that Wittgenstein always sought to present the philosophical ideas that he was arguing
againstas forcefully and thoroughly as he possibly could — in order to get to the deepest crux of the
problems. He liked to play his own Devil's advocate. On the other hand his own resolution of the
problems is invariably presented only very briefly, or by way of mere "hints" and "pointers". He did not
want to save people the trouble of thinking for themselves, indeed, he believed that only in this way,
by fully "experiencing" the problems and finding their own resolutions, could anyone make any real
progress in philosophy. That is no doubt true. But this single fact has probably lead to more
misunderstanding of Wittgenstein than anything else: people very often thinking that what he is
arguing againstis what he is advocating! ... because he presents it so powerfully and thoroughly.

And these sort of misreadings are not just a problem for beginners and new-comers to Wittgenstein,
but for some of the most famous and highly respected university professors! Indeed there is still quite
a lot of controversy about exactly how to understand Wittgenstein's thinking on many of the issues
and questions relating to language.

So good luck!

Rob de Villiers