Single Idea 6315

[catalogued under 19. Language / F. Communication / 6. Interpreting Language / c. Principle of charity]

Full Idea

The more absurd or exotic the beliefs imputed to a people, the more suspicious we are entitled to be of the translations.

Gist of Idea

We should be suspicious of a translation which implies that a people have very strange beliefs

Source

Willard Quine (Word and Object [1960], §15)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'Word and Object' [MIT 1969], p.69


A Reaction

Quine is famous for his relativist and indeterminate account of translation, but he gradually works his way towards the common sense which Davidson later brought out into the open.