The concept of a private language

The concept of a private language has been approached in different ways by different theorists and researchers. Numerous philosophers in the last half of this century have asked whether there can be human languages that are private. John Locke held in 1660 that private languages are possible and indeed necessary. He held in fact that every language is necessarily private and that the meaning or signification of words having a meaning is necessarily an idea in the mind of the speaker. For Locke, a word cannot signify something in the mind of the speaker and in the mind of the listener as well. If that were true, then the world would both immediately signify either something in someone else's mind or a physical object, meaning that the speaker would mean by his or her words something of which he or she had no knowledge. Locke says that language has as its immediate purpose making each person's private and invisible thoughts known to others. Opponents of Locke use his own statements to refute the idea that a private language is even possible, for if a word signifies only the idea of the speaker, then no one can ever know anyone else's ideas (Martinich 443-444). An examination of the views of various philosophers on this subject should clarify the issues.

Martinich defines a private language as a language in which the meanings of the words refer to entities to which only the speaker could have access (Martinich 444). A.J. Ayer simply assumes that there can be such a thin

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acts that can be asserted and are the simple truths into which all other more complex truths can be analyzed. Wittgenstein at this stage would accept as true statements only those that are propositions of natural science. The later Wittgenstein took a more pragmatic view and held that words are tools and can get jobs done, and the meaning of language is found in what it accomplishes. Words are also subject to the rules of language, rules that are socially developed. Fogelin notes the interest that has been accorded Wittgenstein's private language argument and notes how Wittgenstein arrived at this argument. First, Wittgenstein was interested in solving what he called a paradox: If following a rule always involves an act of interpretation, then anything can be made out to be in accord with a rule and anything can equally be made out to be contrary to it (Fogelin 167). One way of obeying a rule shows that the individual has been trained to follow that rule: Under certain circumstances humans form beliefs and act in given ways regardless of their lack of justification. One argument against the possibility of a private language is that a similar skeptical solution to the paradox of alternative interpretations is not available (Fo

Category: Philosophy - T