What is it about?
One cannot follow a rule only once, otherwise one cannot be said to follow the rule. As an example, consider the word "red". One cannot give the meaning to the word by the mere act of ostensive definition: saying "This is red" while poining to a rose. One must also point to at least another object and say "This is not red".
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Why is it important?
Wittgenstein's remark that one cannot follow a rule only once is supposed to be a grammatical remark. Understanding the grammatical nature of this remark is important for understanding that Wittgenstein's investigation is a grammatical one.
Perspectives
This paper is one attempt at explaining the grammatical nature of Wittgenstein's philosophical investigations.
Prof. Francis Yunqing Lin
Beijing International Studies University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Wittgenstein on the impossibility of following a rule only once, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, May 2019, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/09608788.2019.1604314.
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