Beetle in a Box

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 –1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher. He published his book Philosophical Investigations in 1953, and it has since come to be recognized as one of the most important works of philosophy in the twentieth century. Wittgenstein was also the author of the famous beetle in the box thought experiment. For this thought experiment, Wittgenstein asks that we imagine a group of people who each have a box containing something called a “beetle”. No one can see into anyone else’s box. Everyone is asked to describe their beetle, but each person can only talk about their own beetle, as there might be different things in each person’s box. Over time, the word “beetle” simply comes to mean “that thing that is in a person’s box.” The mental experiment makes us think about how we describe our unique experiences. The beetle is like our minds. We can never know exactly what other people are experiencing. So, if someone says they are experiencing pain or love, we can never really know what that experience is like for them and whether it is the same for us.