„Seltsame Frage. –“– Eine Interpretation von PU § 263

Abstract

In the first sentence of PI § 263 - “»Surely I can (inwardly) resolve to call THIS ›pain‹ in the future.«” - Wittgenstein uses the word “pain” and not, as one would expect, the sign “S” of §§ 258, 260 and 261 because this sentence is voiced by a common sense person who doesn’t yet see the deep difference between “S” and “pain” as it is demonstrated in the sections before. The subsequent twofold question - “»But is it certain that you have resolved this? Are you sure that it was enough for this purpose to concentrate your attention on your feeling?«” - is Wittgenstein’s own question, induced by his philosophical considerations before, but now seen from the point of view of the common sense person with whom Wittgenstein temporarily identifies himself. He looks at the philosopher Wittgenstein with the eyes of the common sense person Wittgenstein. This explains why not only the first sentence of § 263 but also the subsequent question is put in quotation marks. It furthermore explains why Wittgenstein writes at the end: “An odd question.” From a common sense standpoint the question certainly sounds odd. What does the dash at the end of § 263 mean? According to the interpretation just given, it may be understood as follows: the dashes before and after “An odd question” can be read as quotation marks indicating that this remark is voiced by the common sense Wittgenstein in response to the philosopher Wittgenstein.