Internal Relations as Imperatives and their Reflexive Cases
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The aim of this paper is to provide the main argument from my recent book Wittgenstein on Internal and External Relations. Tracing All the Connections (2015). The main thesis that I am advancing in my book is that Wittgenstein’s method of analysis rests on the distinction between internal and external relations. First, I want to argue that this distinction is not nonsensical as recently argued by some resolute readers of Wittgenstein’s work. Next, I will show in detail what the positive role of internal relations is. They say something about our grammar. Expressing them may be taken as a reminder or, most notably, as an imperative to improve the grammar of our language. Finally, I shall delineate when expressions of internal relations are nonsensical. The use of an internal relation makes no sense if its terms are identical, i.e. if this use is reflexive. |
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