Chapter 27 – Language Games: The Cult of the Fact and the Enchantment of Discourse
Chapter Summary
Psychology was facing an intellectual and moral crisis by the 1970s. The experimental approach that had once promised objectivity and clarity now seemed reductive, irrelevant, and out of touch with lived experience. Amid this disillusionment a new approach emerged, one that turned its attention not inward to mental states but outward to language, context, and interaction. This chapter explores the rise of discursive psychology as a powerful response to the perceived failures of behaviourism and cognitive science. Anchored in the later philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, particularly his concepts of ‘language games’ and ‘forms of life’, dis-cursive psychology treats language not as a mirror of thought but as a social practice through which psychological reality is constituted. Drawing on the work of several critical psychologists, this chapter explores how meaning, identity, and emotion are produced in language. It also considers how discourse, as a critical thinking tool, reveals the operations of power as something internal to language, performed and resisted through it. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the continued relevance and radical promise of discourse in reimagining what psychology is, and what it might become.
Chapter 27 – Quiz
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Chapter 27 – Flashcards
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Chapter 27 – Key Readings
Chouliaraki, L., & Fairclough, N. (1999). Discourse in late modernity: Rethinking critical discourse analysis. Edinburgh University Press.
Coulter, J. (1979). The social construction of mind: Studies in ethnomethodology and linguistic philosophy. Palgrave Macmillan.
Harré, R. (1988). Wittgenstein and artificial intelligence. Philosophical Psychology, 1(1), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515088808572928
Hook, D. (2001). Discourse, knowledge, materiality, history: Foucault and discourse analysis. Theory & Psychology, 11(4), 521-547. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354301114006
Hudson, L. (1972) The cult of the fact. Cape.
Kalis A. (2019). No Intentions in the Brain: A Wittgensteinian Perspective on the Science of Intention. Frontiers in Psychology,10 (946) 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00946
Racine, T.P. & Müller, U. (2009). The contemporary relevance of Wittgenstein: Reflections and directions. New Ideas in Psychology, 27(2),107-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2008.04.008
Scott, P., & von Unger, H. (2021). Discourses on im/migrants, ethnic minorities, and infectious disease: Fifty years of tuberculosis reporting in the United Kingdom. History of the Human Sciences, 35(1), 189-215. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951211015886
Shotter, J. (1996), Living in a Wittgensteinian world: Beyond theory to a poetics of practices. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 26(3), 293 311. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.1996.tb00292.x
Standish, P. (2022). Inner and outer, psychology and Wittgenstein’s painted curtain. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 56(1), 115 123, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.12656
van der Merwe, W. L., & Voestermans, P. P. (1995). Wittgenstein’s legacy and the challenge to psychology. Theory & Psychology, 5(1), 27-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354395051002
Wetherell, M., & Potter, J. (2015). Discourse and social psychology, postmodernism, and capitalist collusion: An argument for more complex historiographies of psychology. Theory & Psychology, 25(3), 388–395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354314552009
Willig, C. (2000). A discourse-dynamic approach to the study of subjectivity in health psychology. Theory & Psychology, 10(4), 547-570. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354300104006
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Chapter 27 – Reflective Questions
- What does Wittgenstein’s concept of a ‘language game’ reveal about the relationship between language and meaning?
- How did the crisis in psychology during the 1970s open the door for discursive approaches to emerge?
- In what ways does discursive psychology challenge traditional ideas about the nature of psychological knowledge?
- How is power understood and analysed in discursive psychology, particularly in relation to Michel Foucault’s influence?
- What are the implications of treating emotions, attitudes, and identities as discursive performances rather than internal states?
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Chapter 27 – Weblinks
Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy – Ludwig Wittgenstein
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein
A clear and accessible overview of Wittgenstein’s philosophy, discussing concepts like ‘language games’ and ‘forms of life’. The page provides plenty of detail and further reading suggestions, making it useful for students wanting a better understanding of how these concepts went on to influence psychology.
Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy – Michel Foucault
A detailed overview of Foucault’s work and life, with extensive resources for students wanting to learn more about his contributions to the fields he worked in, with particular focus on the theories he proposed.
Changing the Subject – Full PDF (accessible via Academia.edu)
A full PDF of the influential 1984 book by Henriques et al., which links psychology, social regulation and subjectivity. This book is essential for students to help their understanding of the political and discursive critiques of mainstream psychology.
The Discourse Unit – Manchester Metropolitan University (Educational resource)
A webpage with extensive information on critical discourse in psychology, with access to downloadable resources, articles, and various training materials for students to use to deepen their understanding of the chapter topic using more practical resources.
The Discursive Psychological Perspective – Critical Social Psychology (Educational resource)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6IhIa2SRd4
A 2-minute YouTube video giving an overview of the concept of discursive psychological perspectives, presenting perspectives from Dr Bianca Rabbe and Professor Margaret Wetherell.
Ken Gergen talks about Social Constructionist Ideas, Theory and Practise – YouTube Lecture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AsKFFX9Ib0
A 40-minute video of a lecture presented by Dr Ken Gergen, discussing a large variety of topics within social constructivism, giving students an excellent source of information on the chapter subject.
Wittgenstein – BBC In Our Time (Podcast Resource)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0054945 A 45-minute podcast episode presented by Melvyn Bragg, discussing the influence of Wittgenstein on contemporary culture with his theories about language.