Cavell on the Ethical Point of the Investigations

Abstract

The paper presents an overview of Cavell’s account of the ethical significance of
the Investigations. I focus on Cavell’s reading of Wittgenstein’s vision of
language, emphasizing how such reading makes room for a peculiar notion of
responsibility. I then connect this idea of responsibility with Cavell’s
description of perfectionism, showing thereby how Cavell’s account of
Wittgenstein’s vision of language may imply a moral dimension. I conclude by
arguing that the moral point of the practice of elucidation that Wittgenstein
proposes in the Investigations might be understood on the background of this
account.