Synthese 193 (6) (2016)
Abstract |
In this paper, I will investigate Wittgenstein’s idea about the context-sensitivity of utterance. It is the idea that there is a big gap between understanding a sentence in the sense of knowing the idioms and discerning the grammar in it, and what is said by using it in a particular context. Although context-sensitivity in this moderate sense is a familiar idea in Wittgensteinian scholarship, it has mainly been studied as an idea in “Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language.” However, Wittgenstein’s interest in language is always connected with his interest in the treatment of philosophical problems. Therefore, what is lacking in those preceding studies is the study of the relation between Wittgenstein’s engagement with the idea of context-sensitivity and his philosophical therapy. Therefore, I shall investigate that relation and show that Wittgenstein’s philosophical method cannot be intelligible without taking context-sensitivity into consideration and Wittgenstein’s focus on context is deeply connected with his method for treating philosophers’ “pictures.” Below, I will examine recent debates on grammar, and argue that the standard interpretation is untenable once proper consideration is given to context-sensitivity. Next, I will argue that context-sensitivity is important because it gives us a good grasp of the process of a philosopher’s being caught in a picture by citing the discussion about mental process and about the Augustinian picture and rule-following in Philosophical Investigations. Finally, I will talk about the significance of my interpretation for contemporary arguments about philosophical methods.
|
Keywords | Wittgenstein Context Pictures Grammar Philosophy of language Philosophical methodology |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2016 |
ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.1007/s11229-015-0809-y |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
On Certainty (Ed. Anscombe and von Wright).Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1969 - New York and London: Harper Torchbooks.
Women, Fire and Dangerous Thing: What Catergories Reveal About the Mind.George Lakoff (ed.) - 1987 - University of Chicago Press.
View all 39 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Philosophical Pictures About Mathematics: Wittgenstein and Contradiction.Hiroshi Ohtani - 2018 - Synthese 195 (5):2039-2063.
World‐Pictures and Wittgensteinian Certainty.Hiroshi Ohtani - 2018 - Metaphilosophy 49 (1-2):115-136.
Reflective Equilibrium from a Wittgensteinian Perspective.Hiroshi Ohtani - 2021 - Philosophia 49 (4):1631-1649.
Similar books and articles
Pictures, Privacy, Augustine, and the Mind: A Unity in Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations.Derek A. Mcdougall - 2008 - Journal of Philosophical Research 33:33-72.
What Is Wrong with Hacker's Wittgenstein? On Grammar, Context and Sense‐Determination.Tamara Dobler - 2013 - Philosophical Investigations 36 (3):231-250.
Pictures in Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy.David Egan - 2011 - Philosophical Investigations 34 (1):55-76.
Wittgenstein at Work: Method in the Philosophical Investigations.Erich Ammereller & Eugen Fischer (eds.) - 2004 - Routledge.
Wittgenstein on Mahler.Eran Guter - 2013 - In Danièle Moyal-Sharrock, Volker A. Munz & Annalisa Coliva (eds.), Mind, Language and Action: Contributions to the 36th International Wittgenstein Symposium. Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society.
Introspection in Psychology and Philosophy.Jeffery L. Geller - 1987 - Philosophy Research Archives 13:471-480.
Giving Expression to Rules: Grammar as an Activity in Later Wittgenstein.Radek Ocelák - 2014 - Human Studies 37 (3):351-367.
The Relevance of Wittgenstein’s Thought for Philosophical Hermeneutics.Adrian Costache - 2011 - Journal for Communication and Culture 1 (1):44-54.
Wittgenstein’s Method of Philosophical Analysis.L. Bishwanath Sharma - 2008 - Proceedings of the Xxii World Congress of Philosophy 39:223-235.
D. Z. Phillips on the Grammar of "God".Anselm K. Min - 2008 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 63 (1-3):131 - 146.
Diseases of the Understanding and the Need for Philosophical Therapy.Eugen Fischer - 2011 - Philosophical Investigations 34 (1):22-54.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2015-07-03
Total views
91 ( #126,785 of 2,499,424 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
2 ( #278,169 of 2,499,424 )
2015-07-03
Total views
91 ( #126,785 of 2,499,424 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
2 ( #278,169 of 2,499,424 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads