Rule-following - Seguire una regola

This paper aims to propose some conceptual criteria to define what a rule is. Starting from the etymological meaning "to straighten", or "to guide straight", linked to the concrete image of the ruler, I will try to propose a definition inspired by the interpretation of three great philosophers, René Descartes, Immanuel Kant and Ludwig Wittgenstein. According to Descartes, a rule guides intelligence through exercise, training and examples towards a correct use of reason free from prejudice. It is not a source of mathematical certainty, typical of scientific laws, but indicates a path to follow in scientific practice. For Kant, the regulative use of reason serves to orientate the intellect within the field of scientific knowledge, guiding it towards its maximum extension and systematisation. The rules or maxims of reason also assist in the identification of discrepancies and deviations, in order to take them into account and make scientific research more varied and complex and at the same time unitary. Rules are therefore not to be understood as scientific laws, but as philosophical touchstones, essential in every specific field. According to Wittgenstein, rules are not eternal, invariable, transcendent ideas, but applications derived from practice, through examples and patterns, and acquired through exercise and training. For example, the rules of a game (a language-game) define possible behaviours and exclude others. Following a rule is a praxis, a consistent interrelation between words and actions. This does not entail strict and definite systems of rules for each and every language-game, but points to the conventional nature of this sort of human activity or “form of life”. From these reflections we can derive some useful concepts to define what a rule is and what “rule-following” means.