As has been earlier referred to there were some changes in the view point when he wrote his second book Philosophical Investigations. Unlike tractatus, in which he had defined meaning as the mode of verification, now, he defines meaning in terms of a game or play.
To imagine a language, according to him, is to imagine a form of life. Thus, language is a style of life and the activity of man is a game. The terms used in a language have some special meaning. If a word has no special meaning it is senseless.
For example, the words “sky” and “flower” each has meaning and refer to something particular but, the word “sky flower” is devoid of meaning because, no special meaning is inherent in it. It refers to nothing.
Applying the analogy of “sky flower” to the philosophical problem, Wittgenstein asserts that though sky and flower each has meaning, yet the syntax of two “Sky flower” fails to convey any meaning.
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In the same manner, the words used in asserting metaphysical problem may each have meaning but, the assertion taken as a whole may be syntactically defective and therefore, has no meaning.
A simple example would explain the point. The metaphysical assertion “All reality is ideal” has no meaning though each word in it is meaningful. We can only talk of this or that real object or fact but, to say “All reality” makes no sense because, there is nothing corresponding to all reality as we have objects corresponding to a red raised, a philosophy book etc.
In order to resolve metaphysical puzzle the philosophical usages should be, according to Wittgenstein, re-interpreted as commonsense usages of daily life. “What we do is to bring words back from their metaphysical to their everyday use.” In an ideal language, according to Wittgenstein, only the words which are symbols for some real state of affairs are used.
The philosophic problems crop up when we deviate from this principle and use words having no referents. The philosophic language usually, is immaturity and imperfect. This is the reason for the lack of clarity in the philosophic assertions.
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Wittgenstein disregards grammar. The grammar sometimes, misleads and systematically misleading expressions produce in us illusion of a problem and we feel restless. Once we let reality juncture and dispel the illusion, our problem vanishes into thin air. The one-sidedness of philosophy is responsible for the puzzles of philosophy.
In Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein says that “philosophy is a battle against the bewitchments of intelligence by language.” The role of philosophy is to protect us against falling into illusions due to grammatical similaries. For example, a noun is a name of something and it follows that to every name there must correspond an objective fact.
This may lead us to believe that since, God is a noun; there must be some person, place or thing which is called God. By avoiding these errors we find almost all metaphysical problems disappear. They are dissolved like a dream dissolving on waking.