ABSTRACT
Western political philosophy begins with Socrates and Plato, and especially the Republic. The study of political theory is an exploration of different ways of understanding core political concepts such as justice, liberty, power, equality, and authority. Socrates shows the inconsistencies of those who analyze concepts such as justice by debunking them—that is, those such as Thrasymacus who insist they are simply masks for power or domination. Cephalus, having spent an honorable life in business, tells Socrates that justice is paying one's debts and keeping one's word. A language is part of living; to understand the words of that language one must understand the ways of living of which that language is a part. Because language is a game—or rather, many different types of games—that is an element of a form of life, language is inherently public and shared. To better understand the shortcomings of the naming theory of language, Ludwig Wittgenstein explores a simple language in which it seems correct.
