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1. 1. Wittgenstein On Rules And Private Language

   An Elementary Exposition

   

   This book presents a striking interpretation of Wittgenstein that treats rule-following as an apparently intractable skeptical problem: any finite history of usage underdetermines how one should apply a rule in novel cases (illustrated by the famous “quus” thought-experiment), so there seems to be no fact about an individual’s private mental states that fixes meaning. The alleged paradox is addressed by arguing that rule-following and the possibility of meaning depend not on inner representations but on public criteria, communal practices, and forms of life that provide normative standards for correct application; thus what makes a use of a term correct is grounded in shared behavioral dispositions and communal agreement rather than a private, introspectively accessible essence.

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