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Full Idea
The third dogma of empiricism is the dualism of scheme and content, of organizing system and something waiting to be organized, which cannot be made intelligible and defensible. If we give it up, it is not clear that any distinctive empiricism remains.
Clarification
A 'dogma' is an uncritical assumption
Gist of Idea
Without the dualism of scheme and content, not much is left of empiricism
Source
Donald Davidson (The Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme [1974], p.189)
Book Ref
Davidson,Donald: 'Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (2nd ed)' [OUP 2001], p.189
A Reaction
The first two dogmas were 'analyticity' and 'reductionism', as identified by Quine in 1953. Presumably Hume's Principles of Association (Idea 2189) would be an example of a scheme. A key issue is whether there is any 'pure' content.
Related Idea
Idea 2189 All ideas are connected by Resemblance, Contiguity in time or place, and Cause and Effect [Hume]
19044 | Saying truths fit experience adds nothing to truth; nothing makes sentences true [Davidson] |
6398 | Different points of view make sense, but they must be plotted on a common background [Davidson] |
6399 | Criteria of translation give us the identity of conceptual schemes [Davidson] |
6400 | Without the dualism of scheme and content, not much is left of empiricism [Davidson] |