Abstract

MUNOZ SANCHEZ, María Teresa. The Possibility of Giving Reasons: An approach to the Wittgensteinian Paradox. Diánoia [online]. 2007, vol.52, n.58, pp.77-93. ISSN 0185-2450.

This paper sets out a reinterpretation of the so-called Wittgensteinian paradox that questions Kripke's skeptical interpretation. The author retrieves those sections of the Philosophical Investigations where Wittgenstein criticizes ostensive definition as a criterion of meaning, and relates the idea of preeminence of meaning over reference to the possibility of giving reasons for the use of terms. Thus, by providing a revision of the connections between meaning and normativity, a reinterpretation of section 201 is advanced to the effect that Wittgenstein intended to dissolve the apparent paradox, rather than to offer a form of semantic skepticism.

Keywords : skepticism; rule; justification; meaning; reference.

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