8. Radical Interpretation

Philosophy of Language

8. Radical interpretation

Donald Davidson (1917-2003)

• American philosopher of language and mind, student, and colleague of Quine

• wrote only short papers that were collected in five volumes of Philosophical Essays:

• Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (1984)

• His works are mixture of logical empiricism and Quine’s philosophy

• updated verification theory of meaning: understanding the meaning of a sentence is understanding its truth conditions

Radical interpretation

• Davidson reviewed Quine's theory of radical translation

“Radical translation begins at home.” (Quine, “Ontological Relativity”, 1968, p. 198) – we use radical translation even while speaking with people that speak the same language as we do

“All understanding of the speech of another involves radical interpretation.” (Davidson, “Radical Interpretation”, 1973, p. 313)

• we have to use radical translation even when speakers use the same language; to make it clearer Davidson introduced the theory of radical interpretation

• the aim of any conversation is understanding, we must try to understand others, we must try to be understood by others

Principle of charity

“If you see a ketch sailing by and your companion says, 'Look at that handsome yawl,' you may be faced with a problem of interpretation. One natural possibility is that your friend has mistaken a ketch for a yawl and has formed a false belief. But if his vision is good and his line of sight favourable it is even more plausible that he does not use the word 'yawl' quite as you do, and has made no mistake at all about the position of the jigger on the passing yacht. We do this sort of off the cuff interpretation all the time, deciding in favour of reinterpretation of words in order to preserve a reasonable theory of belief.” “On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme”, 1974, p. 18

• We have to be generous and charitable and open-minded to understand and be understood by others

• We have to understand what the person means by his words and what a person tries to communicate with his words

• We have to use principle of charity to understand what is going on

Metaphors

“Metaphor is the dreamwork of language and, like all dreamwork, its interpretation reflects as much on the interpreter as on the originator. The interpretation of dreams requires collaboration between a dreamer and a weaker, even if they be the same person; and the act of interpretation is itself a work of the imagination. So too understanding a metaphor is as much a creative endeavour as making a metaphor, and as little guided by rules.” “What Metaphors Mean”, 1978, p. 31 – strongly opposed Wittgenstein’s Language Games II.

Malapropisms

• creative usage of language

• Mrs. Malaprop from Richard Sheridan’s play The Rivals (1775) wants to sound intelligent and well-educated, but unfortunately, she cannot use English properly

• We have to understand what she wanted to say and understand what she means by that

• We can understand the sentences even there are mistakes = we use the principle of charity in our radical interpretations