Avowals of Intention and Objective Facts: Philosophical Investigations §§629-693 and Their Environs

イト ノ ヒョウメイ ト キャッカン テキ ジジツ テツガク タンキュウ ロッピャク ニ ジュウ キュウ ロッピャク キュウ ジュウ サン セツ ト ソノ シュウヘン

マルタ, ケン

Maruta, Ken

オオサカ ダイガク ニンゲン カガクブ シャカイガク ニンゲンガク ジンルイガク ケンキュウシツ

英語

意図

表明

世界像命題

自我像命題

Objectivity thesis

intending/meaning something

avowals

world-picture propositions

self-portrait propositions

The standard interpretation of the so-called "private language argument" embodies the thesis that one cannot infer "is" from "seems" and that objective grounds are therefore necessary for an empirical proposition to be conferred the status of truth. However, the presupposition of the universal applicability of this thesis is dubious, and the present article explicates and emphasises this doubt through an examination of the avowals of one's intention. The discussion will be based on the exegesis of Wittgenstein's philosophy, in the course of which it will be made clear that Wittgenstein himself was not the defender of the "objectivity thesis". If this analysis is correct, the reason is undermined why avowals of sensation should be understood as conforming to the thesis. This conclusion implies that the standard interpretation of the private language argument stands in need of serious re-consideration. In the contestable scheme of the objectivity thesis, self-ascriptive avowals of various mental concepts are regarded as replacements of pre-linguistic behaviour. If the thesis is to be abandoned, it will be necessary to provide an alternative understanding of avowals. Even the defender of the thesis has to admit that some avowals exist which could not be viewed as mere replacements of natural behaviour or their complex extensions. In this article, I will extend Wittgenstein's ideas as appear in his On Certainty, and suggest an alternative account of avowals as "self"-portrait propositions, which are as certain as the world-picture propositions and equally not based on any grounds. Just as the scepticism of world-picture propositions leads to the collapse of the world as we see it, the scepticism of "self"-portrait propositions threatens our "persons".

英語