McNeill, William Edgar Sainsbury;
(2004)
Triangulation.
Masters thesis (M.Phil), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This thesis is a critical analysis of Davidson's arguments for the notion that participation in what he calls 'triangulation' is a necessary condition of being a thinker or language user. It also argues that the Triangulation arguments were designed to ground and support Davidson's project of Radical Interpretation. A triangular situation is one in which two individuals are reacting simultaneously with one another and a common object. Without participation in such a situation, Davidson claims, thoughts with content for which there are truth conditions cannot be individuated. Further, no individual can come to have the concepts of Objectivity, of the distinction between belief and truth - of the very possibility of being mistaken - without such triangulation. I argue that without an account of how states with objective content are possible, Radical Interpretation will be left unsupported. Moreover, any account of the possibility of objective content must be made 'outside' Radical Interpretation, in that it must not presuppose the sort of objective content that Radical Interpretation must assume, and it must account for. Having introduced the topic, the thesis proceeds by outlining the nature of the project of Radical Interpretation, with emphasis on the constraints imposed by the principle of Rational Charity and its consequences. Chapter 3 argues that no account of the possibility of objective content can be made within the assumption of the legitimacy of Radical Interpretation. Rather, such an account must be the ground for that legitimacy, and hence cannot presuppose it. Chapter 4 goes on to discuss the nature of the two Triangulation arguments. They are best thought of as externalist accounts of the possibility of acquiring objective content. Moreover, this is what Radical Interpretation requires of them. One objection, however, remains unresolved. There is a resolution, I maintain, but doubt whether Davidson would have accepted it.
| Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | M.Phil |
| Title: | Triangulation |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest. |
| Keywords: | Philosophy, religion and theology; Davidson, Donald; Objectivity |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10105772 |
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