Argumenta – Journal of Analytic Philosophy

 

Davidson’s Semantic Externalism: From Radical Interpretation to Triangulation [Special Issue]

Issue: Issue 05 • Author/s: Claudine Verheggen
Topics: History of Analytic Philosophy, Philosophy of language, Theoretical philosophy

The received interpretation of Donald Davidson’s philosophy has it that his thoughts underwent a significant change between his early work and his later work, in particular, between his work on radical interpretation and his work on triangulation. It is maintained that the kind of semantic externalism Davidson advocated in his later work is importantly different from that advocated in the early work. Indeed, it is sometimes even maintained that his semantic externalism emerged only, roughly, in his later work. I argue that Davidson’s semantic externalism has always been not only…