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    Wittgenstein's own remark that 'a rule cannot determine i... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→What makes a continuation of an addition rule a case of genuine rule-following is that the community continues in the same way.

    Wittgenstein's own remark that 'a rule cannot determine its application' applies equally to communal practice, since the community itself must follow a rule for 'same way' to have determinate content.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Rules require interpretation; interpreting a rule requires following another rule, creating infinite regress unless halted by brute practice.
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    • 2.Community practice is itself a rule-governed entity that needs grounding; it cannot escape the same regress problem that affects individual rule-following.
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    • 3.Without an independent standard beyond communal agreement, 'same way' becomes circular: the community determines sameness, sameness justifies the community.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Community practice may ground rule-application through causal regularity and behavioral convergence, not rule-following, thus avoiding the regress.
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    • 2.The regress argument conflates justification (requiring reasons) with normativity (requiring standards); communal practice provides the latter without the former.
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    • 3.Wittgenstein's point about rules may show foundationalism fails, but this doesn't prove communal practice faces identical problems—it may be the stopping-point itself.
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    Key Terms

    Determinate content(describing whether beliefs have one clear meaning)
    Meaning that is fixed and specific, rather than vague or open to multiple interpretations.
    Wittgenstein
    Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher who fundamentally changed how people think about language and meaning in the 20th century. He argued that many philosophical problems arise from misunderstanding how words actually work in everyday life, rather than from deep metaphysical mysteries. His ideas influenced not just philosophy but also mathematics, logic, and even how people approach psychology and artificial intelligence today.
    a rule cannot determine its application(Wittgenstein's famous claim about how rules work)
    The idea that no rule can be so clear or complete that it tells you exactly what to do in every possible situation—there's always some gap between the rule itself and how you use it in practice.
    communal practice(as what creates meaning according to this view)
    The shared ways a group of people regularly do things and understand things together—like how a sports team shares rules and ways of playing.

    Connections

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    Philosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Community practice is itself a rule-governed entity that needs grounding; it can...Community practice may ground rule-application through causal regularity and beh...Rules require interpretation; interpreting a rule requires following another rul...The regress argument conflates justification (requiring reasons) with normativit...
    +3 moreShow less
    What makes a continuation of an addition rule a case of genuine rule-following i...Without an independent standard beyond communal agreement, 'same way' becomes ci...

    Details

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Wittgenstein's point about rules may show foundationalism fails, but this doesn'...