Donald Davidson and Knowledge

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that in tackling the problem of epistemology, Donald Davidson identifies three types of human knowledge that can be validated by empirical means. The writer discusses that these are self-knowledge, knowledge of the world, and knowledge of other people. The writer points out that Davidson then embarks upon the establishment of a comprehensive systematic means by which these three types of knowledge might be linked and hence legitimized in the eyes of the non-empiricist skeptic. The writer concludes that Davidson suggests that one naturally has thoughts that one does not share with others, but then makes the provocative statement that the content of such thoughts is not personal and individual, by which he presumably means they are not original, because of the fact that they are still grounded in the physical world and the conceptual, communal framework that the individual dwells in.

From the Paper:

"But in order to obtain knowledge of another's mind via communication, one must first have knowledge of the external world. This is because communication is contingent on stimulation from an external source. This is where Davidson introduces his theory of triangulation. A stimulus sends out waves to two different people at once. The two people then face one another and communicate as a means of correlating their observed reactions to that particular piece of stimuli. Thus, argues Davidson, knowledge of both the external world and knowledge of the minds of others are interrelated, and neither form of knowledge is possible without the other.
"What is more, in order to be able to attribute a thought to someone else, we must first be aware of what our own thoughts are. Thus, self-knowledge and the knowledge of the minds of others are interrelated. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Davidson, Donald. Subjective, Intersubjective, Objective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

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