The Blue Book on Solipsism and the uses of ‘I’: A dialectical reading

Abstract

This paper argues for a dialectical reading of Wittgenstein’s grammatical reminders concerning the uses of the first person pronoun in The Blue Book. Against a widespread, ‘non-referential’ view which takes those reminders as direct attempts at blocking some substantial metaphysical results, the reading here proposed emphasizes their topic and therapeutic role as parts of an attempt to unveil the sources of some philosophical temptations, among them particularly that of solipsism, ultimately aiming to loosen its grip, as opposed to repress or sublimate it.