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.