A notion similar to that of Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000) (indeterminacy of translation), thought of primarily in connection with Donald Davidson (1930-2003) and his truth-conditional theory of meaning (see convention t).
To construct axioms suitable for deriving a theory of meaning for an alien language, we must interpret the utterances of its speakers. It is here that we have to engage in radical interpretation, aided now in choosing (but never conclusively) between the alternatives by the principle of charity, to which was later added that of humanity.
Unlike Quine, however, Davidson does not envisage different speakers having radically different conceptual schemes (see perspectivism). Rather, radical interpretation requires one to choose (upon occasion) between attributing false beliefs to one’s interlocutor and taking his utterances to mean something different from what they seem to mean at first sight; neither of these involves attributing to him a different conceptual scheme.
Source:
D Davidson, ‘Radical Interpretation’, Dialectica (1973); reprinted in D Davidson, Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (1984)
Table of Contents
- 1 Videos
- 2 Related Products
- 2.1 You Shall Be as Gods: A Radical Interpretation of the Old Testament and Its Tradition
- 2.2 Susan Sontag: Essays of the 1960s & 70s (LOA #246): Against Interpretation / Styles of Radical Will / On Photography / Illness as Metaphor / ... (Library of America Susan Sontag Edition)
- 2.3 Utopias — Radical Interpretations of Iconic Works for Percussion
- 2.4 Radical Re-Interpretations Volume 1: A Transformation of Hits
- 2.5 Radical Virtuosity: Ana Mendieta and the Black Atlantic (The MIT Press)
- 2.6 The Pervert's Guide to Ideology
- 2.7 Radical Ecopsychology, Second Edition: Psychology in the Service of Life (SUNY series in Radical Social and Political Theory)
- 2.8 Lost in America (DVD)
- 2.9 Emotional Intelligence 2.0
- 2.10 Radical Re-Interpretations Vol. 2: A Transformation of Hits
- perspectivism
- radical empiricism
- indeterminacy of reference and translation
- Donald Davidson
- Willard Van Orman Quine
Videos
You Shall Be as Gods: A Radical Interpretation of the Old Testament and Its Tradition
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Fromm, Erich (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 240 Pages - 02/26/2013 (Publication Date) - Open Road Media (Publisher)
Susan Sontag: Essays of the 1960s & 70s (LOA #246): Against Interpretation / Styles of Radical Will / On Photography / Illness as Metaphor / ... (Library of America Susan Sontag Edition)
- Library of America
- Hardcover Book
- Sontag, Susan (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 900 Pages - 09/26/2013 (Publication Date) - Library of America (Publisher)
Radical Re-Interpretations Volume 1: A Transformation of Hits
- Audio CD – Audiobook
- Vitamin Records (Publisher)
Radical Virtuosity: Ana Mendieta and the Black Atlantic (The MIT Press)
- Hardcover Book
- Hyacinthe, Genevieve (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 352 Pages - 10/29/2019 (Publication Date) - The MIT Press (Publisher)
The Pervert's Guide to Ideology
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Sophie Fiennes (Director) - Slavoj Žižek (Writer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Lost in America (DVD)
- Factory sealed DVD
- Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty, Michael Greene (Actors)
- Albert Brooks (Director) - Albert Brooks (Writer) - Marty Katz (Producer)
- English, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Subtitles)
- English (Publication Language)
- Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Emotional Intelligence 2.0
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Bradberry, Travis (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 280 Pages - 06/13/2009 (Publication Date) - TalentSmart (Publisher)
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