Inner Processes and Outward Criteria: Wittgenstein’s Importance for Psychology

Abstract

Ludwig Wittgenstein is indisputably one of the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th century. Generally known as a philosopher of language, he is remembered among other things for his dictum that the meaning of a word is to be sought in its use, for his argument against the possibility of a private language, and for his ideas on family-resemblance concepts. His contributions to the philosophy of psychology have also been widely recognized, although not, for the most part, among psychologists. Aside from references to family resemblances in research on concept formation (Rosch, 1978, this volume), and some comparisons with behaviorism (Day, 1969; Costell, 1980), the relevance of Wittgenstein’s work for psychology as a science has gone largely unnoticed within the profession. The publication of his Remarks on the philosophy of psychology in 1980, however, has made this aspect of his thinking more accessible (Baker & Hacker, 1982).