On Pain and Privacy The Concept of Sensation in Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations

Andrew I. Kay

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Edidin, Aron

Keywords

Wittgenstein, Ludwig, Philosophy of Mind, Sensation

Area of Concentration

Philosophy

Abstract

This thesis elaborates on the concept of sensation as Wittgenstein presents it the Philosophical Investigations, with special attention paid to the notion of privacy. The structure takes the form of three chapters. The first deals with the question of what Wittgenstein means when he argues that pains are 'incommunicable.' I hope to have augmented Wittgenstein' s conclusion that they are not by working some of the principles involved in the argument out in detail. This same chapter shall also contain a more general discussion of philosophical grammar, as understood by Wittgenstein. The second chapter is in two parts, the first being an exploration of the argument of �258 that there can be no private language, by which I refer to my sensations and only I can understand, and the second some discussion of further thought experiments relating to private language from the Investigations. The third chapter is a discussion of some consequences of concluding that there can be no private language and that pains are not incommunicable, structured as a problem about what do about the relationship between a sensation and the subject of whom having it is predicated, in dialogue with R.C. Buck and Jack McDowell. I conclude that there are some philosophical difficulties in Wittgenstein's arguments, but hope that the richness of Wittgenstein's thought, as exhibited in this thesis, provides compelling evidence that his philosophy ought not be dismissed or ignored by philosophers of mind. Rather, a full critique of mind including Wittgenstein and contemporary and recent theorists as resources would be a philosophical boon.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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