Abstract
Wittgenstein’s dissatisfaction with academic psychology is well known. In perhaps the most widely available statement of his discontent, Wittgenstein wrote, “The confusion and barrenness of psychology is not to be explained by calling it a ‘young science’.” In psychology, he added, “there are experimental methods and conceptual confusion. … The existence of experimental methods makes us think we have the means of solving problems which trouble us; though problem and methods pass one another by” (PI, p.232e).
I believe that my originality (if that is the right word) is an originality belonging to the soil rather than to the seed. … Sow a seed in my soil and it will grow differently than it would in any other soil. (Wittgenstein, CV, p.36e)
I wish to thank Mary D.S. Ainsworth, Jude Cassidy, Michael Chapman, Deborah A. Cohn, M. Jamie Ferreira, William P. Gardner, and Sandra Scarr for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. I also wish to thank Roger Kobak for directing my attention to the inspiring work of Stanley Cavell, and Cora Diamond for her gracious encouragement of my interest in Wittgenstein.
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Patterson, C.J. (1987). Wittgenstein, Psychology, and the Problem of Individuality. In: Chapman, M., Dixon, R.A. (eds) Meaning and the Growth of Understanding. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83023-5_10
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