Davidson, interpretation and values
Abstract
The broad aim of this research is to outline, assess and elaborate on Davidson’s work on
radical interpretation and its connections to his understanding of values, and particularly on
his understanding of the nature of ethical judgments and concepts.
The central idea that I consider is that the principle of charity must play much the same role
in the attribution of values to a speaker as it does in the attribution of beliefs. This is taken
to show that certain general claims about the content of propositional attitudes, which
Davidson thinks follow from the consideration of radical interpretation, can be applied to
values as well as beliefs.
Type
Thesis, MPhil Master of Philosophy
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