Radical Interpretation, the primacy of communication, and the bounds of language

Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication 1 (1):123-134 (2009)
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Abstract

In the first section of this paper I review the notion of Radical Interpretation, introduced by Donald Davidson in order to account for linguistic meaning and propositional thought. It is then argued that this concept, as embedded in Davidson's whole philosophical system, gives rise to a view of communication as a key explanatory concept in the social sciences. In the second section of the paper it is shown how this view bears upon the question as to what the bounds of linguistic behaviour are. As opposed to major psychological and sociological perspectives on language, Davidson's communication-centred position gives rise to an inclusive, context-dependent answer to this question.

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Eli Dresner
Tel Aviv University

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References found in this work

Word and Object.Willard Van Orman Quine - 1960 - Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press.
Inquiries Into Truth And Interpretation.Donald Davidson - 1984 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
Individualism and psychology.Tyler Burge - 1986 - Philosophical Review 95 (January):3-45.
Problems of rationality.Donald Davidson - 2004 - New York: Oxford University Press.

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