Abstract

In The Expanse, the major powers do a great deal of talking, but don't have a great deal of understanding. Discussing language can be surprisingly difficult, because the only way to discuss language is with language and that peculiar arrangement can lead to some outright strangeness. Eccentric, reclusive, and hot‐tempered, Ludwig Wittgenstein is a key philosopher in the examination of language and meaning. Wittgenstein's philosophical studies centered around how to express meaning and why conveying meaning so often breaks down. In Wittgenstein's earlier writings he articulates the picture book model of language. Language can be written, spoken, signed, and so forth, but it is convention to refer to any language user as a ‘speaker.’ Wittgenstein argues that language works much like a game, relying on contextual rules and actions to guide and form meaning. The language game model of language also better explains why Belters and the Inners seem doomed to fail to communicate.