The world as a game in Sraffa and Wittgenstein: A case study in modern bourgeois ideology

This article makes a comparative analysis of works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Piero Sraffa, notably Philosophical Investigations and Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities respectively. In the process, the authors' method and its underlying philosophical assumptions are criticised. While Sraffa's text is taken to represent a view of society that fits in nicely with Wittgenstein's conception of the structure of language games, it is also implied that Sraffa's thinking about economic relations might very well have inspired the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy. The article argues that their common methodological effort must be considered distinctively bourgeois.