CONCEPT
Private Language Argument
Wittgenstein's demonstration that a language understandable to only one person is not merely impractical but <em>impossible</em> — and the philosophical foundation of the claim that criteria for meaning must be shared.
The Philosophical Investigations §§243–315 develops one of the most discussed arguments in twentieth-century philosophy: that a private language — a language whose terms could in principle be understood only by the speaker — is incoherent. Wittgenstein's thought experiment asks us to imagine a diarist who records a private sensation with the sign S. Each day the diarist writes S when the sensation occurs. What makes today's use of S correct? Without external criteria — without public standards against which the usage can be checked — the diarist cannot distinguish between actually recognizing the same sensation and merely thinking she recognizes it. A rule that cannot be violated is not a rule. A language without public criteria is not a language.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The argument is constitutive rather than skeptical. Wittgenstein is not doubting that people have sensations or that inner life exists. He is clarifying what meaning requires. Meaning requires criteria, criteria must be shared, and sharing requires a
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