Haller on the first person

Johann C. Marek

pp. 71-85

in: Keith Lehrer, Johann C. Marek (eds), Austrian philosophy past and present, Deventer, Kluwer, 1997

Abstrakt

In some of his essays on Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ernst Mach, Rudolf Haller considers various approaches to interpreting the use of the word "I" (and its linguistic equivalents), or—in a more mentalistic diction—thoughts about oneself. The aim of my paper is not a critical assessment of Haller's interpretation of the self in Wittgenstein's and Mach's works. Rather, it is supposed to be (1) a synopsis of the approaches Haller takes into consideration combined with some additions to them, (2) a criticism of Haller's preferences (especially his tendency to plea for the de se reference on the one side and for the elimination of the self on the other side), and (3) an appeal for a referential and (moderate) mentalistic account of the first-person pronoun.

Cited authors

Haller Rudolf

Mach Ernst

Wittgenstein Ludwig