对戴维森“宽容原则”的再认识

戴维森认为,一个意义理论的证据就在于说话者持语句为真的条件,而一个说话者持一个语句为真结果证明是他用该语句表达的意义和他的信念的函数。为了解决信念与意义的相互依赖性这个问题,戴维森引入了“宽容原则”。他通常在以下三种意义上使用这种原则：（1）假定说话者与解释者对于他们共同环境的本质具有相同的认识;（2）假定说话者（在大多数情况下）具有真信念;（3）假定说话者是理性的。宽容原则是彻底的解释获得成功的一个前提条件。由于戴维森并没有论证全能的解释者关于其环境的认识的确是真的,并且对引起信念的对象的本质没有给予保证,因此仅仅依靠宽容原则,尚不可能确保得到一个关于客观世界的客观真理。

Reconsideration of Davidson's Principle of Charity

Davidson claims that the evidence for a theory of meaning is the condition under which a speaker holds true a sentence and the holding of a sentence to he true by a speaker turns out to he a function both of what he means by the sentence and of what he believes. To solve the problem of the interdependence of belief and meaning, Davidson introduces the Principle of Charity. He usually uses the Principle of Charity in the following senses： （1） the assumption that the speaker and the interpreter agree upon the nature of their common environment, （2）the assumption that the speaker has mostly true beliefs and （3） the assumption that the speaker is rational. The Principle of Charity serves as a precondition for the success of radical interpretation. The application of The Principle of Charity alone doesn＇t guarantee an objective truth of the actual world in that the omniscient interpreter＇s conception of his environment is not ensured to be really true and the nature of the causes of his beliefs are not made clear.