Abstract

It has been assumed by some writers that Wittgenstein’s talk of primitive reactions amounts to a theory of concept formation out of instinctive behaviour. Others have argued that Wittgenstein is thinking of reactions within language‐games, which therefore belong to its structure not its origins. The author concurs, but argues that Wittgenstein also has in mind that it belongs to the grammars of certain concepts that the language‐games in which they lie are themselves supplementary to natural behavioural forms. This provides a context in which the notion of pre‐linguistic behaviour may be employed legitimately in philosophy whilst avoiding unjustified theorising.