ANALYSIS OF THE CRITICISM OF PRIVATE LANGUAGE IN WITTGENSTEIN

AND HIS ANTIMENTALISTIC POSITION IN PSYCHOLOGY

Abstract

Ludwig Wittgenstein has been considered as one of the most influential philosopher of the twentieth century. In this paper, part of his work and his well known two perspectives in order to comprehend the language and its relationship with the world is analyzed. In the first section, a brief analysis of his studies, emphasizing his second stage called the “mature Wittgenstein,” that is mainly linked with the philosophical investigations, aiming at disentangling the notion of “language game” and his critique of the “private language” is determined. In the second section, the Wittgensteinian critique of “private language” and its implications in the scientific study of psychology is examined. The article concludes with a position close to the “epistemological behaviorism” to understand the psychological phenomena, position that denies the existence of a “mental language”, but implying the existence of first-perspective quality experiences.