Wittgenstein and Davidson on Language, Thought, and Action

264 Pages·2017·1.153 MB·

by  Claudine Verheggen

Wittgenstein and Davidson
on Language, Thought, and Action
WittgensteinandDavidsonaretwoofthemostinfluentialandcontroversial
figures of twentieth-century philosophy. However, whereas Wittgenstein is
often regarded as a deflationary philosopher, Davidson is considered to be
a theory builder and systematic philosopher par excellence. Consequently,
littleworkhasbeendevotedtocomparingtheirphilosophieswitheachother.
Inthisvolumeofnewessays,leadingscholarsshowthatinfactthereismuch
thatthetwoshare.ByfocusingonthesimilaritiesbetweenWittgensteinand
Davidson, their essays present compelling defences of their views and
develop more coherent and convincing approaches than either philosopher
wasabletoproposeonhisown.Theyshowhowphilosophicallyfruitfuland
constructive reflection on Wittgenstein and Davidson continues to be, and
how relevant the writings of both philosophers are to current debates in
philosophyofmind,language,andaction.
claudine verheggen is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at
YorkUniversityinToronto.Shehaspublishednumerousarticlesonissuesin
mindandlanguage,andsheisco-authorofDonaldDavidson’sTriangulation
Argument:APhilosophicalInquiry(2016).

Wittgenstein and Davidson
on Language, Thought, and Action
Editedby
Claudine Verheggen
YorkUniversity,Toronto
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Title:WittgensteinandDavidsononlanguage,thought,andaction/editedby
ClaudineVerheggen,YorkUniversity,Toronto.
Description:NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2017.
Identifiers:LCCN2017028185|ISBN9781107093768
Subjects:LCSH:Wittgenstein,Ludwig,1889–1951.|Davidson,Donald,
1917–2003.|Languageandlanguages–Philosophy.|Thoughtand
thinking.|Act(Philosophy)
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In memory of Sue Larson

Contents
ListofContributors pageix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
claudine verheggen
1 HolisminAction 8
robert h. myers
2 Davidson’sWittgensteinianViewofMeaning 28
paul horwich
3 DavidsonandWittgenstein
AHomericStruggle? 46
a˚sa wikforss
4 Rule-FollowingandCharity
WittgensteinandDavidsononMeaningDetermination 69
kathrin glu¨er
5 Davidson’sTreatmentofWittgenstein’sRule-FollowingParadox 97
claudine verheggen
6 DavidsonandWittgensteinonMeaningandUnderstanding 123
barry stroud
7 TheSearchfor“TheEssenceofHumanLanguage”in
WittgensteinandDavidson 139
jason bridges
8 WittgensteinandDavidsononAnimalMinds 159
hans-johann glock
9 WittgensteinandDavidsononFirst-PersonAuthorityandthe
UnivocalityofMentalTerms 186
william child
vii
viii Contents
10 TheHarmonyofThoughtandReality
WittgensteinandDavidsonvsMcDowell 205
tim thornton
11 Davidson,Russell,andWittgensteinontheProblemof
Predication 226
jose´ l. zalabardo
Index 250
Contributors
JasonBridgesUniversityofChicago
WilliamChildUniversityofOxford
Hans-JohannGlockUniversityofZürich
KathrinGlüerStockholmUniversity
PaulHorwichNewYorkUniversity
RobertH.MyersYorkUniversity,Toronto
BarryStroudUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
TimThorntonUniversityofCentralLancashire
ClaudineVerheggenYorkUniversity,Toronto
ÅsaWikforssStockholmUniversity
JoséL.ZalabardoUniversityCollegeLondon
ix