Abstract

Uso, significato e riferimento - This article is an exposition of W.V. Quine's doctrine of the indeterminacy of translation of terms. The aim is to provide a clear formulation of this doctrine, to distinguish it from the much stronger claim that the translation of sentences is indeterminate, and to outline the arguments put forward by Quine. The most systematic of these is reconstructed in detail, namely the argument from proxy functions. Finally, it is argued that the ultimate ground of the doctrine is the acceptance of the semantic primacy of sentences. The claim that meaning has to be identified with language use is also discussed