Private Language

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Banno, et.al.[Edit][Delete]: Private Language, Philosophy Forums [Edit][Delete] July 11, 2006
Can there be a private language, that is, a language that you think in, but never speak to anyone else? According to Wittgenstein, there cannot be, because you would never know whether you are using it correctly. Language is, therefore, an irreducibly public phenomenon. Is it the same with knowledge? Can there be private knowledge? It seems there must be, doesn't there - after all, only you can know whether or not you are actually in pain. More...