The following groupings of language games from part I of The Brown Book follows the same format as the last guide. Wittgenstein here gradually works his way to the idea of an ability.
21(from “We introduce …”)-32: unbounded games
Wittgenstein often took our ability to go on forever following the series of numbers as a simple surrogate for our ability to construct an unlimited number of sentences, so the topic of these examples is more general than it may at first appear. He offers a detailed commentary at the end of (32), pp. 94f.
33-38: moving by command according to rules
These begin to raise issues concerning what he called in The Blue Book “a process involving a rule” (rather than merely being in accord with one). Wittgenstein comments on them at the end of (38) but he has more to say after the next two.
39-40: the same without rules
These point to an analogue of the idea that the chain of actual reasons is limited (The Blue Book, pp. 14f). The cases themselves are described in a few sentences, with most of p. 97 serving as a commentary on them and the preceding group.
41: general training
I’ve separated this game from others because it has its own commentary and even a label provided by Wittgenstein.
42-43: “reading word by word”
The idea of being guided was an important one for Wittgenstein
and reading was a standard example of it for him. This is the topic he will address for the rest of part I and specific issue of ability will occupy him for a large part of it.
44-46: “can” used to describe states of objects
The concept of possibility raises many of the same issues as intentionality. Here Wittgenstein begins to explore ways in which talk of possibilities can be like or unlike talk of an object’s properties.
47-48: abilities as qualities and grounds for their ascribing them
Wittgenstein’s commentary following these passages doesn’t address them directly but is important nonetheless. The idea of “natural expressions of emotion” is one he uses also in his in discussions of the ascription of mental states to others.
49: using “has” and “can” on the basis of the same fact
Notice that the two sorts of expression exhibited in this game are verified in the same way though in other respects they play different roles in the language.
50-53: historical narration
Wittgenstein’s comments on these games suggest you might think of them in connection with Augustine’s puzzle about time, which Wittgenstein mentioned in The Blue Book (p. 26).
54-55: telling time
One might parody the opening of The Blue Book here, saying that, if we feel inclined to ask what time is, we should instead ask how we tell time.