ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I shall investigate Wittgenstein’s private language argument, that is, the argument to be found in Philosophical Investigations §243-315. Roughly, this argument is intended to show that a language knowable to one person and only that person is impossible; in other words, a “language” which another person cannot understand isn’t a language. Given the prolonged debate sparked by these passages, one must have good reason to bring it up again. I have: Wittgenstein’s attack on private languages has regularly been misinterpreted. Moreover, it has been misinterpreted in a way that draws attention away from the real force of his arguments and so undercuts the philosophical significance of these passages.
