Beyond Radical Interpretation: Individuality as the Basis of Historical Understanding (original) (raw)

2009, European Journal of Philosophy

AI-generated Abstract

D'Oro critiques Davidson's radical interpretation theory, arguing it fails as a historical interpretive model due to its inability to accommodate significantly different beliefs. The paper explores how Davidson's principle of charity overlooks cultural discrepancies and ultimately hinders understanding historical agents' motivations and beliefs. By contrasting Davidson's approach with Collingwood's perspective, the discourse emphasizes the necessity of interpreting historical figures within their own contextual frameworks.

An approach to D. Davidson’s “Radical Interpretation” theory

Filosofia Unisinos, 2009

Davidson's concept of meaning as truth has many advantages in respect of reference and to give an account of how language is used. Its complement is the theory of radical interpretation, and both holism and the principle of charity complete his notions on semantics. These theses and the very idea that meaning depends upon a theory of truth for natural languages that is not independent of desires and beliefs are revolutionary in what semantics is concerned. Davidson's use of the concept of truth is a consistent way of providing evidence and satisfaction for a sentence, but these concepts are restricted to the semantic ground. Observation of the behavior, holism and the charitable assumption, evidence and satisfaction are factors that must be completed by the acceptance of the propositional content that will give an actual role for this sentence in a dialogue. So, the comprehension level (semantics) requires a further step in the direction of pragmatic conditions that supplies communication with the reasons that produce the acceptance of a speech act, its justifi cation, not just its interpretation. In speech real situations, the semantic devices operate through pragmatic features.

From Radical Translation to Radical Interpretation and Back

2003

Both Quine and Davidson put forth programs of empirical semantics satisfying the conditions that characterize the so-called "standpoint of interpretation." Quine's less ambitious program of radical translation rests upon two buttresses: causality and empathy. Davidson's more ambitious program of radical interpretation replaces causality with truth and empathy with rationality. Although the replacement of causality with intersubjective truth seems to me to be a fully justified move, I nevertheless contend that it is more realistic to develop the work of interpretation drawing upon Quine's less ambitious requirement of empathy than upon Davidson's view of human agency as rational agency. In order to substantiate this contention, I present an argument to the effect that Davidson's characterization of human agency as rational is not compatible with his other requirement that truth should provide the essential link connecting speech with environment and action.

Language, Belief, and the Concept of Belief - A Defense of Davidson

The thesis that language is essential to thought seems out of fashion. According to Davidson's main argument for lingualism a creature must have the concept of belief in order to have beliefs. Having this concept, however, requires language. If lingualism is wrong, Davidson's argument must be unsound, too. Indeed, the argument was subject to strong criticisms. There are well known objections to the effect that Davidson argues in a vicious circle. Another objection claims that Davidson relies on nothing more than empirical speculation. According to a third objection, phenomena like autism provide empirical evidence against Davidson's thesis. In this paper I argue that none of these objections succeeds. By way of conclusion, I shall outline a possible strategy for avoiding the consequences of Davidson's argument.

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