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Single Idea 4148
[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
]
Full Idea
What is your aim in philosophy? - To show the fly the way out of the fly-bottle.
Gist of Idea
What is your aim in philosophy? - To show the fly the way out of the fly-bottle
Source
Ludwig Wittgenstein (Philosophical Investigations [1952], §309)
Book Ref
Wittgenstein,Ludwig: 'Philosophical Investigations', ed/tr. Anscombe,E. [Blackwell 1972], p.103
A Reaction
Ridiculous. Trying to think about thought is not a pointless buzzing - it is an attempt by humans to become like gods.
The
53 ideas
from 'Philosophical Investigations'
6501
|
As sense-data are necessarily private, they are attacked by Wittgenstein's objections
[Wittgenstein, by Robinson,H]
|
7055
|
Externalist accounts of mental content begin in Wittgenstein
[Wittgenstein, by Heil]
|
12576
|
Possessing a concept is knowing how to go on
[Wittgenstein, by Peacocke]
|
6567
|
For Wittgenstein, words are defined by their use, just as chess pieces are
[Wittgenstein, by Fogelin]
|
23450
|
Wittgenstein rejected his earlier view that the form of language is the form of the world
[Wittgenstein, by Morris,M]
|
18743
|
Wittgenstein says we want the grammar of problems, not their first-order logical structure
[Wittgenstein, by Horsten/Pettigrew]
|
4136
|
To imagine a language means to imagine a form of life
[Wittgenstein]
|
4137
|
In the majority of cases the meaning of a word is its use in the language
[Wittgenstein]
|
4138
|
Is white simple, or does it consist of the colours of the rainbow?
[Wittgenstein]
|
4139
|
Naming is a preparation for description
[Wittgenstein]
|
4140
|
The standard metre in Paris is neither one metre long nor not one metre long
[Wittgenstein]
|
4141
|
Various games have a 'family resemblance', as their similarities overlap and criss-cross
[Wittgenstein]
|
4946
|
A name is not determined by a description, but by a cluster or family
[Wittgenstein, by Kripke]
|
2512
|
Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language
[Wittgenstein]
|
6566
|
The problem is to explain the role of contradiction in social life
[Wittgenstein]
|
4142
|
To understand a sentence means to understand a language
[Wittgenstein]
|
6165
|
Every course of action can either accord or conflict with a rule, so there is no accord or conflict
[Wittgenstein]
|
4143
|
One cannot obey a rule 'privately', because that is a practice, not the same as thinking one is obeying
[Wittgenstein]
|
6169
|
We do not achieve meaning and understanding in our heads, but in the world
[Wittgenstein, by Rowlands]
|
6166
|
Was Wittgenstein's problem between individual and community, or between occasions for an individual?
[Rowlands on Wittgenstein]
|
4144
|
Common human behaviour enables us to interpret an unknown language
[Wittgenstein]
|
11049
|
To communicate, language needs agreement in judgment as well as definition
[Wittgenstein]
|
4145
|
How do words refer to sensations?
[Wittgenstein]
|
5676
|
To say that I 'know' I am in pain means nothing more than that I AM in pain
[Wittgenstein]
|
7875
|
If a brilliant child invented a name for a private sensation, it couldn't communicate it
[Wittgenstein]
|
4146
|
We cannot doublecheck mental images for correctness (or confirm news with many copies of the paper)
[Wittgenstein]
|
4147
|
If we only named pain by our own case, it would be like naming beetles by looking in a private box
[Wittgenstein]
|
5659
|
If the reference is private, that is incompatible with the sense being public
[Wittgenstein, by Scruton]
|
5663
|
It is irresponsible to generalise from my own case of pain to other people's
[Wittgenstein]
|
19272
|
To imagine another's pain by my own, I must imagine a pain I don't feel, by one I do feel
[Wittgenstein]
|
4148
|
What is your aim in philosophy? - To show the fly the way out of the fly-bottle
[Wittgenstein]
|
4149
|
We don't have 'meanings' in our minds in addition to verbal expressions
[Wittgenstein]
|
4150
|
Asking about verification is only one way of asking about the meaning of a proposition
[Wittgenstein]
|
15106
|
Essence is expressed by grammar
[Wittgenstein]
|
4151
|
Grammar tells what kind of object anything is - and theology is a kind of grammar
[Wittgenstein]
|
4152
|
Getting from perceptions to words cannot be a private matter; the rules need an institution of use
[Wittgenstein]
|
4153
|
Are sense-data the material of which the universe is made?
[Wittgenstein]
|
4154
|
Why are we not aware of the huge gap between mind and brain in ordinary life?
[Wittgenstein]
|
4155
|
We all seem able to see quite clearly how sentences represent things when we use them
[Wittgenstein]
|
6600
|
The belief that fire burns is like the fear that it burns
[Wittgenstein]
|
4156
|
Make the following experiment: say "It's cold here" and mean "It's warm here"
[Wittgenstein]
|
4157
|
Concepts direct our interests and investigations, and express those interests
[Wittgenstein]
|
4158
|
An 'inner process' stands in need of outward criteria
[Wittgenstein]
|
7092
|
If individuals can't tell if they are following a rule, how does a community do it?
[Grayling on Wittgenstein]
|
6658
|
What is left over if I subtract my arm going up from my raising my arm?
[Wittgenstein]
|
22490
|
Bring words back from metaphysics to everyday use
[Wittgenstein]
|
11079
|
How do I decide when to accept or obey an intuition?
[Wittgenstein]
|
12606
|
Man learns the concept of the past by remembering
[Wittgenstein]
|
19273
|
I don't have the opinion that people have minds; I just treat them as such
[Wittgenstein]
|
4159
|
The human body is the best picture of the human soul
[Wittgenstein]
|
4160
|
One can mistrust one's own senses, but not one's own beliefs
[Wittgenstein]
|
4161
|
If a lion could talk, we could not understand him
[Wittgenstein]
|
7392
|
If a lion could talk, it would be nothing like other lions
[Dennett on Wittgenstein]
|