A Study On The Wittgensteinian Approach To The Problem Of The Self In Contemporary Philosophy

A study on the problem of the self has formed various views in modern theory of knowledge.There are different methods such as phenomenology and cognitive science and so on.This paper focuses on the discussion of the self from the perspective of contemporary Anglo-American theory of knowledge.By sorting out and analyzing relevant papers and different viewpoints of researchers,the author finds that there are three different research paths in the field of British and American theory of knowledge:first,the anti-Cartesian approach,that is,on the basis of denying the Cartesian theory of the entity self,the author intends to explore a new understanding of the "self" in the contemporary sense;Second,the approach of a theory of mind,which mainly studies the nature and characteristics of mental states and "psychological self-knowledge".Third,the approach of scientism,which is based on the research achievements of brain science,neuroscience and other natural sciences,and uses the method of scientism for scientific analysis of the self and related issues,thus,providing a new dimension and perspective for contemporary philosophers to discuss the self.It must be pointed out that(1)these three approaches are not existing paths,but summarized by the author based on the analysis and study of relevant literature and problems;(2)The relationship between these three approaches is not inconsistent.They don’t have a continuous or covering relationship or some logical correlation,but exist side by side.They all deal with the problem of the self on the same level,but explore different paths on the content of the problem;(3)In the study of the problem of the self,there are some overlaps between these three paths.However,according to the discussion of the problem of the self and related issues based on these three paths,it is very likely to get into trouble and get rid of the self problem itself.For example,turning to the study of the operation of a certain region of the brain or a certain neural activity of a person is based on the study of the self in brain science or neuroscience,but whether this can be used to explain the self problem is still controversial.This paper argues that these three paths do not provide us with a fundamental way to solve the problem of the self.In the face of different research methods of contemporary philosophy on the problem of the self,this paper intends to stand on a higher level,on the basis of overcoming the current shortcomings of contemporary philosophy on the problem of the self,to find a reasonable path to solve the problem of self,which is Wittgensteinian approach.This approach refers to a new path that makes it is easier to understand the problem of the self through the continuous characterization of Wittgenstein’s views on the problem of the self in different periods.The author believes that the difficulty in understanding Wittgenstein’s view of the self lies in his unique way of research,that is to say,he has different ways of studying the self in different periods.This leads to the common misconception that Wittgenstein’s philosophy contains different views of the self,or that the understanding of his view of the self is always based on some inherent philosophical view of the past or a philosopher’s mode of thinking,ignoring his own special understanding of the "self" problem and internal consistency.This paper proposes that Wittgenstein’s basic view of the problem of the self is continuous throughout his life.This is mainly manifested in the following aspects: First,starting from the logical subject,the author asks for the meaning of setting the logical I,that is,as the boundary between the speakable and the unspeakable,so as to find a place for the self to play its role;Then,the study of the self is placed in the form of life and daily language games,through the usage of the word "I",and then touches the core problem of the self,that is,the self-cognition,mainly about the "psychological self knowledge".According to Wittgenstein’s viewpoint of expressivism and the tendency of minimalism,the dilemma of "psychological self-knowledge" is explained rationally.Finally,the inseparable relationship between states of consciousness or conscious activity and the self makes it more significant that the research on the self becomes the point of view of the discussion on the consciousness.Therefore,the research on the self is the exploration of the consciousness problem.These can be seen as three different stages of Wittgenstein’s research on the problem of the self.The author argues that Wittgenstein’s discussion of consciousness includes "grammatical investigation" and "Lebensform investigation",which reveals the view that machines cannot have consciousness and the unreasonableness of consciousness belonging to the brain,and confirms the necessity of states of consciousness or activity belonging to "living human being".Thus,the "living human being" is the ultimate home of understanding the problem of the self.That is to say,the concept of "living human being" reflects the characteristics of the self,such as subjectivity,self-cognition ability and self as a conscious self.As a combination of the subject,cognition and consciousness,this concept is a realistic manifestation of the problem of the self.All these points of view show that in Wittgenstein’s mind,the study of the problem of the self no longer needs the emergence of a satisfactory new theory of the self,but should be placed in the "living human being" and Lebensform,daily language games.It can be said that Wittgenstein’s unique way of studying the problem of the self is fundamentally different from that of western traditional philosophy and provides a new vision for us to re-understand the problem of the self.Based on Wittgenstein’s philosophical thinking on the problem of the self,this paper points out that his research on the problem of the self has obvious methodological characteristics and significance.He provides two research methods: One is,the way of grammatical analysis,which is the basic method adopted in Wittgenstein’s entire philosophical discussion,specifically,to understand the contents of the self through structural presentation;the other is,the way of Lebensform,which is the method of language game proposed by Wittgenstein in the later period,that is,the way of only describing but not explaining,only presenting a certain thing without commenting on it.These are two very important methodological contributions of Wittgenstein.Therefore,this paper puts forward a new approach,Wittgensteinianapproach,which makes it is easier to understand the problem of the self.The core content and presentation mode of this approach is from logical subject to self-cognition,then to consciousness,and finally,"living human being" as a combination of the three,which is called Agent in this paper.This paper emphasizes that the study of the self is an open field,which needs more emphasis on the discussion in the fields of methodology,axiology and practice.The author believes that "Wittgensteinianapproach" not only includes the discussion of methodology,but also includes the discussion of axiology,that is,language value,as well as the practical level,and the final foothold is the Agent,as a realistic manifestation of the self.The Agent as an individual existence should be integrated into the social practice.Therefore,the discussion of the problem of the self is extended to the field of practice,that is,human activities,"Agent" or "living human being" embody the ultimate attribution and important basis for understanding theproblem of the self.