Aspect perception and rule‐following in Wittgenstein's <i>Philosophical Investigations</i>

Abstract This paper aims to highlight a distinctive, projective, mode of aspect perception within Wittgenstein's philosophy that has gone underappreciated in the scholarly literature. Although it bears a family resemblance to other instances of the phenomenon Wittgenstein describes as ‘noticing an aspect’ in PI Part II §113, it is distinctive in that it involves not only ‘seeing’ a pattern but also ‘projecting’ the pattern to subsequent cases of application. One reason it is important to highlight this projective mode of aspect perception is that it plays a critical role within Wittgenstein's rule‐following considerations. Confusions arise, such as those associated with the analysis of arithmetical infinity characteristic of Russellian Platonism, when philosophers adopt metaphysical misinterpretations of this ‘projective’ mode of aspect perception. By reflecting on this mode of aspect perception in association with rule‐following, Wittgenstein aims to dispel such confusions.