Abstract

A well-known argument by Wittgenstein can naturally be expanded to provide additional information on the logic of folk psychological concepts. Exemplary for this is the concept of pain. Even the concept of one's own pain – and related: the use of the sentence "I am in pain" – turns out to be quite complex; it is the result of a two-stage construction. Ordinary descriptive use of the sentence at an upper level is based on non-descriptive, expressive use of the sentence at a lower level. But the higher level is only achieved if the concept of someone else's pain is available.