Wittgenstein and "the universal language" of painting

pp. 345-353

in: Jaakko Hintikka, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Berlin, Springer, 1996

Abstract

A year ago, we argued that in the later Wittgenstein one has to distinguish primary from secondary language-games when he discusses our language of mental experiences.¹ Primary language games establish the basic links between language and our experiences; secondary ones build on them and at the same time modify them. It is only by means of secondary language-games that we bring such notions as knowledge, certainty, evidence, and justification to bear on our talk about mental experiences, for instance sensations.