The Private Language Argument
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Wittgenstein and the disappearance theory of meaning
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So Wittgenstein offers a form of disappearance theory of meaning. The references of 'meaning' and 'understanding' disappear; instead sentences acquire meaning owing to their position in forms of life, in patterns of behaviour, in their role in language games. Wittgenstein's philosophy of language is extremely hostile to cognition – we could call it anti-cognitivist. He rejects the view that conscious states of mind have a role to play in the grasp of meaning. The 'meaning' of words is not to be found in any cognitive ability to handle ideas, or to relate to objects, mental or physical, or to grasp an essential property, or to be acquainted with a universal. Wittgenstein does not say that there are no conscious states that accompany the use of words; likewise, he does not deny that there are sensations. However, he does deny that either conscious states or sensations have any role to play in the use of language.
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Contents of
The Private Language Argument
1 Modern philosophy, introspection and behaviourism
2 Wittgenstein and the private language argument
3 Wittgenstein and the referential theory of meaning - meaning is use, following a rule
4 Wittgenstein and the disappearance theory of meaning
5 Wittgenstein and his answer to the transcendental deduction of Plato
6 The private language argument and the conceptual analysis of the term I - language games
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