Maximilian Philipps is a doctoral student at the Chair of Theoretical Philosophy/
Dissertationsprojekt
Expression games. The notion of expression in Wittgenstein’s Philosophy of Psychology
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Freitag, Chair of Philosophy I
My dissertation deals with Wittgenstein‘s discussion of the expression of mental states through a speaker’s verbal or nonverbal behavior. The focus on the analysis lies on so-called avowals like “I am in pain.”
I share the view that Wittgenstein, through his analysis of such sentences, can be seen as a pioneer of psychological expressivism.. Moreover, I argue that key motifs of his later work, like the impossibility of a private language, the rule-following problem, or the phenomenon of aspect perception, can be integrated into an inherently expressivist interpretation of Wittgenstein’s work.
My main thesis is that Wittgenstein doesn’t see the expression of mental state as a phenomenon that depends on the presence of mental states in the subject’s mind, but rather as one that relies on the presence of an expression game: an intersubjective context in which actions gain their expressive significance, thereby becoming adequate vehicles for expressing mental states.