Wittgenstein and the question of harmony between language, thought and reality

Author(s)

Antonio Ianni Segatto

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2011-05-12

Examining board members

Luiz Henrique Lopes dos Santos; Joao Vergilio Gallerani Cuter; Paulo Francisco Estrella Faria; Bento Prado de Almeida Ferraz Neto; Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Dias Pereira

• Advisor: Luiz Henrique Lopes dos Santos

Abstract

The aim of this work is to examine the replacement and transformation of the question of the harmony between language, thought and reality in the second phase of Wittgensteins philosophical production. In order to fulfill this aim we discuss in the first chapter the formulation of the question in the initial phase of his reflections, which culminates in the Tractatus logico-philosophicus, and its connection with the conceptions of philosophy and method presented in the book. Then, we discuss the modifications in these conceptions since the beginning of the 1930s and the necessity of reformulating the question we approach. In the second and third chapters we comment on the two main sides of the question in the second phase of Wittgensteins production: 1. the examination of some passages of the manuscripts of the so-called middle period and of the §§428-465 of the Philosophical Investigations reveal its connection with the notion of intentionality and correlated notions; 2. the examination of the texts dedicated to the notion of following a rule, mainly the §§185-242 of the Philosophical Investigations, allows to reconsider the relations between the rules and the application practices. This path is intended to show, on the one hand, that even after the abandonment of the Tractarian project, Wittgenstein still considers the question of the harmony between language, thought and reality as a legitimate philosophical question, provided that it is put in other terms; and, on the other hand, that the relations between our forms of representation and reality are more complex than he once thought. (AU)