Wittgenstein, Rules, and Normativity

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Wittgenstein, Rules, and Normativity Wittgenstein, Rules, and Normativity by Frank M. Secky A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduâte Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Philosophy University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba O February, 2000 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*I of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. nie Wellington OnawaON KIAON4 OtîawaON KlAW Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une Licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fh, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES +te++ COPYRIGHT PERMISSION PAGE Wittgenstein, Rules, and Normortivity BY A ThesWPracticom submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partiai hilfillment of the requinments of the degree of Master of Arts I;RANK M. SECKY O2000 Permission his ken gnntcd to the Libriry of The University of Manitoba to lend or seU copies of thio thesis/pncticum, to the National Libriry of Cam& to microfilm this thesidpracticum and to Iend or seU copies of the nIni, and to Dissemtions Abstricts International to publish an abstrict of this thesis/practicum. The author reserves othcr publication rights, and neither this thesis/pmcticum nor extensive extracts from it may b+ printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's writâen permission. Wittgenstein, Rules. and Normativity The aim of tb thais is to exmine the concept of "biiowing a de"as it is adai.csscd by Wiîtgcnsîein in his Phüapoplrial ~~~&&IIIS§§143-242 and in certain parts of the Raiiruficp on du FoundlttiO1~~of MatAcntatjcS. The ccmcept of fOIIowbg a de is essentiai 60r miderstanding certain key questions in the phrlowphy of m9id as wd the philasaphy ab roQiI ha.Unfortmiately, there is little amsenms abord ho^ UR should mad Wittpnstein's trieatment of de-Mimukg, 1 vgoe that the claim thnt des arise oat of a ~gaiud practice does not entul that the ccmmmity determines the interpretation of des. The thinLers who daim that the community does &termine the interpretaticm of des, the sa-calfed Conrm~tyVim thcorists, an? nsoally mncemed to put a stop to possible challenges by a rate *ceptic. Thc ComrnUmty Vxew theorists beiieve that the mie sceptic cpn challenge an indnndtd's de-fo1lOwing but not the m~nm&ty's de-fbiiawing. I ciam, hawever, îhat the rule sceptic's woy is incohemnt and so is the solution to the sapticisn, the CommUmty View. Io discassing de- scepûcian and the Conrmunity View, I focus on Kripke's W- On RhMd Ptiw& Lmgqp. Kriplre's appmch is a sophistiated modification of the Comme View. But even thou@ 1 aigrie, together with McGimi and Baker and Htcker, thpt the Community View is fundament* incorrect, 1 think that it is interesthg to see why this Mew is so temptïng and why some Community View theoiists might want to attriiute it to Wittgenstein I bclieve that in interpreting Wiwnstein, one needs to appreciate the . deliute balance between the commPnNinui and the individualist aspects of his views an meaning and de-foiiowing. Although the commuuity is the most important source of correctness, it does not mean that WC can equatc the right way of foiiowing a ruic with the (nomative) attitude îhat the commulliify has towards that de. Tradition, eqlicït rdes of various sorts and peopIe in a position of power or auîhority can be rlso a source of corriecbiess for determining the nght way of lonowing a de. Detailed Table of Contents INTRODUCTION: RULES AND NORMS 1.2 INTRODUCTION AND THE SCOPE OF THE THESIS Thesis statement. My presuppositions. 1. B CLASSIFYING RULES Different conceptions of rules and norms. 1.C EXAMPL.ES OF RULES WITH DIFFERENT USES Classifying rules according to their use (legal, mathematical, grammatical, game-rules etc.). I.D NORMATIVE COMPULSION Classifying rules according to the kind and force of their normative compulsion. Secky 3 How is normative compulsion different from a natural compulsion? (a preliminary treatment) 1. E FOLLOWING RULES VS. CONFORMING TO RULES Classifying rules according to whether we can speak of an agent (or the lack thereof : following rules vs. conforming to rules or norms. Why the norms encoded in the brain are not relevant to an account of rule-following? 1.F THE SOURCES OF NORMATIVITY Classifying rules and norrns according to their source (verbal instruction, shared ways of life, "practice", observation, conditioning, evolution, cybernetic systems, etc. ) . 1. G EXPLICIT VS. IMPLICIT RULES Rules as the logical condition acting. Classifying rules according to the way in which the agent obeys the rule (explicitly or implicitly) . Secky 4 What does constitute the following of a rule in a general sense? I. H RULES VS. RULE-FORMULATIONS 1.1 WITTGENSTEIN'S USE OF "RULE" II. THEORIES OF RULE-FOLLOWING II.A REDUCTIONISM VS. NON-REDUCTIONISM Introduction to theories of rules. Reductionism. Are norms underlain by something non-normative? II. B ACTUALISM AND DISPOSITIONALISM Dispositionalism and actualism: an introduction and some general difficulties with these concepts. III. THE "PARADOX" OF PI S201 Secky 5 I1I.A KRIPKE'S "PARADOX" 54 Introduction to Kripke's interpretation of Wittgenstein. The "paradox" of Kripke's sceptic. III .B KR IPKE ' S WITTGENSTEIN AND THE REAL WITTGENSTEIN Kripke's "paradox" is not the paradox that Wittgenstein addresses in PI S201. Why it is very unlikely that Wittgenstein would want to offer a solution to the "sceptical paradox". 1II.C WITTGENSTEIN'S PARADOX The sceptic's "paradox" is a paradox for Wittgenstein's interlocutor, rather than for Wittgenstein himself. III.D REGULISM The regress of interpretations argument revisited. Secky 6 III. E THE FOLLOWING OF A RULE IS A PRAXIS 68 How is the role of the comrnunity in Wittgenstein's account different £rom that of Kripke's? IV. THE SCEPTICAL SOLUTIOl\i 1V.A THE COMMUNITY VIEW Community View -- the scepticism about rules applies only to the individualistic conception of rule-following. Kripke: For A to be in accord with a rule is for the community to have no disposition to reject A. This is incorrect because it is quite possible for the comrnunity to be wrong about a particular thing (czlculating rnidsurnrner' s day) . IV.B PRIVATE RULE-FOLLOWING Wt~at is the difference between saying that ruie following is necessârily public and saying that it is necessarily social? Could there be just one occasion of foliowing a rule? Thewe could be just one occasion Secky 7 of followinç a rule but that kind of rule-following needs to be social. V. SANCTIONS AND PKACTICES V.A INTRODUCTION TO BRANDOM An introduction to Brandomls account of normativity and its connection to Wittgenstein's "rules". V.B NORMZTIVITY AND CONDITIONING Brandom's account of opewant conditioning and its relation to Wittgenstein's "training". V. C DIFFICULTIES WITH BRANDOM'S ACCOUNT Possible difficulties with Brandom's xcount of reward and punishment. V.D INTZRNAL AND EXTERNAL SANCTIONS Secky 8 V. E BRANDOM ON ANIMALS AND INTERNAL SANCTIONS 105 Animals do not act because they do not have a conception of what they are doing. However, this does not entai1 that animal behaviour cannot be a source of normativity. Animal behaviour can be interpreted as resulting £rom the non-propositional attitudes that animals have. Does this entai1 that anirnals have beliefs? How is Brandom faithful to the spirit of the Philosophical Investigation? VI. CONCL USION Bibliography Wittgenstein, Rules, and Normativity by Frank M. Secky 1. INTRODUCTION: RULES AND NORMS 1. A INTRODUCTION AND THE SCOPE OF THE THESIS Although discussions of rules can be traced as far back in the history of philosophy as Plato's Eutnyphro, and although rules and norms are also addressed by Kant in The Critique of Pure Reason in the eighteenth century, the concept of "following a rule" became prominent in philosophy mainly as a result of Wittgenstein's treatment of this topic in the Philosophical Investigations (PI) §§143-242 and in certein parts of the Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics (RFM) . In this thesis 1 shall address some of the main claims that Wittgenstein makes regarding rules, though 1 shall conceive rny discussion of rules and norms in somewhat broader terrns than Wittgenstein. 1 shall share with Wittgenstein, and other philosophers whose work 1 am going to discuss, the presupposition Secky 10 that al1 intentionality and meaninq, whether human or otherwise, is in some sense normative. That meaning is normative is quite apparent when we consider the meaning of everyday words and sentences, for example, when someone alters the meaning of a word ("Just among two of us") it cornes down to altering the rule that governs the use of that word ("Among is used to refer to more chan two entitiest'). 1 shall assume that the kind of normativity that is relevant to specifically human acrivities, to language and mind, is instituted largely by use and social practices. In this first chapter 1 shall set the stage for the thesis by distinguishing rules £rom other norms, as well as by examining some of the central features of rules and norms.
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