Philosophy is often dismissed by non-philosophers as being merely a misguided competitor to science. The fact that philosophy works independently of observation and experiment, together with the common assumption that nothing about the nature of the world can be discovered by the exercise ... see more

A common conclusion in present philosophy is that private languages are impossible. This conclusion derives from Wittgenstein and is usually thought to imply that a language which it would be impossible for more than one person to speak is not itself possible. Wittgenstein is not the only ... see more