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Full Idea
Concerning charity, the Principle of Coherence seeks logical consistency in the thought of the speaker, and the Principle of Correspondence seeks a similar response to features of the world to that of an interpreter. The speaker has logic and true belief.
Gist of Idea
The principle of charity attributes largely consistent logic and largely true beliefs to speakers
Source
Donald Davidson (Three Varieties of Knowledge [1991], p.211)
Book Ref
Davidson,Donald: 'Subjective, Intersubjective, Objective' [OUP 2001], p.211
A Reaction
Davidson adds a Kantian commitment to pure and universal reason to the very sceptical framework created by Quine. I agree with Davidson, but it seems more like faith than like an argument or an empirical observation.
Related Idea
Idea 3495 Shared Background makes translation possible, though variation makes it hard [Searle]
| 10347 | Objectivity is intersubjectivity [Davidson] |
| 10346 | Knowing other minds rests on knowing both one's own mind and the external world [Davidson, by Dummett] |
| 8866 | If we know other minds through behaviour, but not our own, we should assume they aren't like me [Davidson] |
| 8868 | Objective truth arises from interpersonal communication [Davidson] |
| 8867 | A belief requires understanding the distinctions of true-and-false, and appearance-and-reality [Davidson] |
| 8869 | The principle of charity attributes largely consistent logic and largely true beliefs to speakers [Davidson] |
| 8870 | Content of thought is established through communication, so knowledge needs other minds [Davidson] |