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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2008

The indexical "I" and the self-identification: some perspectives on one debate between Wittgenstein's and Evans's approaches

Résumé

Introduction: ", "you", "here" are deictic expressions or indexicals, whose references depend on the context of use. Concerning the indexical "I", firstly we talk about ontological priority, in the sense of existential guarantee; that is, the referent must exist, it is not possible to say "I" if I do not exist. Secondly, we speak about the referential guarantee as immunity to error through misidentification. By this, we understand, on one hand, that in the case of "I" the problem of misidentification is not considered; on the other hand, it is not possible to fail the referent of "I", because it is me, the speaker that says "I". If "I" is correctly used, we cannot have errors of misidentification. Concerning the identification, we must distinguish between the tools given to the hearer in order to identify the referent and the identification of "himself". It is also important to note that the philosophy of the subject follows the mastering of "I". It is the use of the personal pronoun that has priority and not the philosophical conception of the subject. The immunity to error through misidentification is used by Wittgenstein to prove that when using "I" as subject, even though it indicates that there are not errors through misidentification, we can't speak about identification by "I". Consequently, we cannot say that "I" in his use as subject is a referential expression. Following Wittgenstein, an expression is referential if it is possible to identify with it and if there exists the possibility to have errors of misidentification. If we do not have the possibility of misidentification then it is not a referential expression. But following Evans, the argument of the misidentification is used also for proving that in the case of "I" we can speak about identification, differently from the demonstrative identification, as perceptual identification. In this sense, we can speak about referentiality. Objectives: In this paper, I investigate the processes of self identification and the role of the immunity of self identification in it, in connection with the question of reference of "I". In order to understand the connection between the referentiality, the identification and the immunity to error through misidentification, I will focus, in my study, on few essential questions: 1) Can we speak about the identification by "I"? 2) If so, what kind of identification is implied in the case of "I"?. To answer these questions, I will center my study on the debate between Wittgenstein and Evans concerning the self-identification and the referentiality. My hypothesis, based on Evans's approach, is that we can identify by "I" in a special manner. My arguments consist in the fact that the relation with ourselves is translated in language and that it is possible to have identification, even though apparently we could think that is not the case. Against Wittgenstein, I argument that there is not a contradiction between the immunity to error through misidentification and the fact that it is a identification, wich is related to the reference of "I". Conclusion: This paper focuse on the self-identification processes. In order to explain it, I concentrate my study on the debate between Wittgenstein and Evans concerning the self-identification by "I" and the referentiality of "I".
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halshs-00791105 , version 1 (21-02-2013)

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  • HAL Id : halshs-00791105 , version 1

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Camelia Dascalu. The indexical "I" and the self-identification: some perspectives on one debate between Wittgenstein's and Evans's approaches. Sixth European Congress of Analytic Philosophy, Aug 2008, Jagiellonian University, Cracovie, Poland. ⟨halshs-00791105⟩
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