Wittgenstein and What We Can Say

As Williams has noted, first-person-plural statements are conspicuously frequent in Wittgenstein’s later writings. The types of first-person-plural statements in question are, in particular, those about what we should say when,what we can imagine, and what we are tempted to say in philosophy. It is indeed puzzling how Wittgenstein can be in a position to make this kind of general statement – certainly not by having conducted empirical research. Objections against this kind of claim have been raised as early as they have been taken to define a distinct way of doing philosophy.I shall restrict my discussion to Stanley Cavell’s positive account of the validity of this kind of judgement before proceeding to examine the nature of Wittgenstein’s hostility to philosophical explanation.