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My aim is to explain Wittgenstein's remarks on the epistemology of giving examples and to consider how this ramifies in the study of politics . In parts of The Blue and Brown Books (Preliminary Notebooks) and throughout Philosophical Investigations , one of Wittgenstein's central epistemological claims is that learning takes place by means of comparing examples, and by practice , rather than by essential definitions or formal abstractable rules . Comparing examples is not an inferior method of explanation, because we have nothing better. Rather, there is nothing deeper than the examples . So he says, "let the use teach you the meaning ". To illustrate how this approach has been mobilized in the study of politics , I will consider the writings of James Tully's "aspectival " political science . Tully agrees with Wittgenstein's refutation of generality and his appreciation for particular cases. He agrees that we learn by practice , and by comparing examples in dialogue, not rules. Likewise, Tully gives examples, not theories or rules , to explain and to stimulate diversity awareness. These similarities are readily apparent in Strange Multiplicity, and with a sculpture called The Spirit of Haida Gwaii. The artwork is an object of persuasion: to invite negotiation, stimulate diversity awareness, and encourage transformative reconciliation .

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-3136-6_19

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