more from Donald Davidson

Single Idea 6396

[catalogued under 3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 1. Truth]

Full Idea

A sentence is held true because of two factors: what the holder takes the sentence to mean, and what he believes.

Gist of Idea

A sentence is held true because of a combination of meaning and belief

Source

Donald Davidson (Thought and Talk [1975], p.20)

Book Reference

'Mind and Language', ed/tr. Guttenplan,Samuel [OUP 1977], p.20


A Reaction

A key question is whether a belief (e.g. an imagistic one, or one held by an animal) could be true, even though no sentence is involved. Linguistic philosophers tend to avoid this question, or assume the answer is 'no'.