Ludwig Wittgenstein · Philosophy

The Private Language Argument

Wittgenstein’s famous argument that there could be no ‘private language’ - a language whose words refer to private sensations knowable only to the speaker. Without a public standard of correctness, the very distinction between ‘correct’ and ‘merely seeming correct’ collapses. This dismantles the Cartesian picture of a private inner world named by a private vocabulary.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned Wittgenstein’s argument that a ‘private language’ (words naming sensations knowable only to the speaker) is impossible: with no public standard of correctness, ‘correct’ collapses into ‘seems correct’, so the rules that make a language a language cannot get a grip.…

Leads to René Descartes.

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