Home / Quotes / Quote by Donald Davidson

Quote by Donald Davidson

“There is no such thing as a language, not if a language is anything like what many philosophers and linguists have supposed. Thereis therefore no such thing to be learned, mastered, or born with. We must give up the idea of a clearly defined shared structure which language-users acquire and then apply to cases.”

Quote by Donald Davidson

Author

Donald Davidson

Donald Davidson was an American philosopher known for his influential contributions to the fields of philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and epistemology. His work had a profound impact on 20th-century philosophy, particularly in the areas of meaning, truth, and cognitive interpretation. more

You May Also Like

“Mental events such as perceivings, rememberings, decisions, and actions resist capture in the net of physical theory.”

Action Remember Decision Events Theory Capture

Book:Essays on Actions and Events: Philosophical Essays

Source: Essays on Actions and Events: Philosophical Essays

“If we cannot find a way to interpret the utterances and other behaviour of a creature as revealing a set of beliefs largely consistent and true by our standards, we have no reason to count that creature as rational, as having beliefs, or as saying anything.”

Ifs Way Reason Belief Creatures Standards Rational Consistent No Reason Behaviour Rationality Revealing Utterance

Author:Donald Davidson

“Conceptual relativism is a heady and exotic doctrine, or would be if we could make good sense of it. The trouble is, as so often in philosophy, it is hard to improve intelligibility while retaining the excitement.”

Ifs Hard Philosophy Would Be Trouble Doctrine Excitement Good Sense Exotic Relativism Retaining

Book:Inquiries Into Truth and Interpretation: Philosophical Essays

Source: Inquiries Into Truth and Interpretation: Philosophical Essays

“The dominant metaphor of conceptual relativism, that of differing points of view, seems to betray an underlying paradox. Differentpoints of view make sense, but only if there is a common co-ordinate system on which to plot them; yet the existence of a common system belies the claim of dramatic incomparability.”

Ifs Seems Views Common Existence Claims Metaphor Point Of View Make Sense Dramatic Plot Paradox Betray Dominant Relativism

Book:Inquiries Into Truth and Interpretation: Philosophical Essays

Source: Inquiries Into Truth and Interpretation: Philosophical Essays

“You change the rhythm of the talk and respoonse and you change the rhythm between the talk and the response.”

Response Rhythm

Author:Gayl Jones

“I believe that all literatures can have political uses and misuses. Sometimes politics can enhance, sometimes it can get in the way of imaginative literature. . . . I'm not sure one can be a creative writer and a politician -- not a "good" politician.”

Way Believe Sometimes Use Political Literature I Believe Creative Politician Not Sure Imaginative Misuse Creative Writers Good Politicians

Author:Gayl Jones

“The riveting moral power of the Arab Spring comes from its homegrown quality. This is about Arabs overcoming fear to become agents of their own transformation and liberation.”

Quality Moral Spring Overcoming Transformation Agents Liberation Overcoming Fear Arab Spring Homegrown

Author:Roger Cohen

“Interventionism is inextricable from the American idea. If the United States retreats into isolationism, it ceases to be itself ? a nation dedicated, however much it falls short, to a universalist ideal of freedom.”

Ifs Ideas States Fall Nations United United States Ideals Cease Dedicated Retreat Diplomacy Isolationism Interventionism

Author:Roger Cohen

“Iraq and Afghanistan have exacted a toll on America - in lives, treasure and standing - that it will take a generation to work through.”

America Generations Standing Iraq Treasure Afghanistan Tolls

Author:Roger Cohen

“Never underestimate the human capacity for delusion.”

Humans Human Nature Capacity Delusion Underestimate Never Underestimate Human Capacity

Author:Roger Cohen