Bolton in wvord and object professor quine formulated his principle of indeterminacy of translation as follows. Davidson on theories of meaning, sticking instead to quine on indeterminacy. The principal thesis is that the behaviour of its speakers can never render ob. Information and translations of quine in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on. Quines thesis of the indeterminacy of translation has attracted a great deal of. Quine notes that while carnap came nearest to carrying out such an. Part of quine s argument for indeterminacy of translation involves an 1. Duhem quine translation in german english reverso dictionary, see also durch sein,du,durcheinander,durchscheinen, examples, definition, conjugation. This paper aims to analyze quines major theories of indeterminacy of meaning and inscrutability of reference by their definition and appearance, then. Examples of how to use quine in a sentence from the cambridge dictionary labs.
This can, perhaps, be better understood by looking at the meaning of holism, and contrasting it with another view of meaning, atomism. Quine s doctrines of underdetermination of theory and indeterminacy of translation have often been confused and misunderstood. Quine definition english definition dictionary reverso. This holistic form of justification is no special feature of radical translation. Sep 06, 2008 the first part of this paper discusses quine s views on underdetermination of theory by evidence, and the indeterminacy of translation, or meaning, in relation to certain physical theories. It should be remarked in the present context that dr steiners attribution to wittgenstein of a view closely parallel to quine s principle of indeterminacy, seems without foundation. Willard van orman quine stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.
It is extremely rare to see anything that looks like an explicit translation manual between scienti. The second section of the article looks at quines argument from. By combining, rather than isolating, linguistic and social analysis, we can improve both and point the way to a better theory of translation at all levels. In wvord and object professor quine formulated his princip minacy of translation as follows. Understanding in his meaning, knowledge and reality 3389. His starting point is similar to the logical positivists. Pdf davidson has always been explicit in his faithful adherence to the. In the chapter entitled translation and meaning of his book. Translation and meaning professor jeeloo liu key ideas 1. A methodology for translation translated by juan c. This paper was written early in 1954 at the request of professor schilpp, for inclusion in a volume on carnap which he had been planning. Eve gaudet traces the roots of these doctrines in quine s philosophy, showing how they reflect significantly different concerns and play substantially different roles. That is, quine denies our meaning facts in the first place. On how to avoid the indeterminacy of translation philpapers.
Soames states the thesis of the indeterminacy of translation as follows. Quine on the indeterminacy of translation chapter 11 an. The meaning of each mathematical sentence must be explained or defined in logical terms. Quine goes back to old english cwen, meaning a woman, wife or, as in modern english, a queen. It is used as an introduction to his theory of the indeterminacy of translation, and specifically to prove the point of inscrutability of reference. Using this concept of radical translation, quine paints a setting where a linguist discovers a native linguistic community whose linguistic system is completely unrelated to any language familiar to the lingui. Empathy, naturalism, quine, radical translation download pdf. According to quine, the sentence lo, a unicorn and the sentence lo, a goblin have the same stimulus meaning. Quine on meaning and translation1 philosophy cambridge. Quine is an empiricist of the most radical kind he wants to reduce all. But quine s solution resembles the actual practices of scientists far more than any translation manual could. The earlier quotations in a dictionary of the older scottish tongue refer mainly to young women in service or of restricted financial means. Translation for quin in the free englishfrench dictionary and many other french translations. The linguists reason and motivation for using analytical hypothesis is translation.
The primary aim of this thesis is to provide an interpretation of quines. Better to discover how science is in fact developed and learned than to fabricate a fictitious structure. In his view, to understand someone else is to interpret themthat is, to. We can refer to quine s conclusion as meaning eliminativism or meaning nihilism his starting point is similar to the logical positivists. Make sure to define and utilize the important concepts of stimulus meaning, radical translation, inscrutability of reference, etc. Philosophy of language, theoretical philosophy keywords.
In quines case, this formed part of a concerted and longstanding attack on traditional conceptions of meaning. Mechanical translation and computational linguistics, vol. The indeterminacy of translation is a thesis propounded by 20thcentury american analytic philosopher w. Quine suggests that we need a background language to regress into. Quine s thesis of the indeterminacy of translation is the theory which launched a thousand doctorates. American analytic philosopher and logician whose major writings, including word and object, concern issues of language and. In the course of his discussion of meaning and the linguistic mechanisms of objective reference, quine considers the indeterminacy of translation, brings to light the anomalies and conflicts implicit in our languages referential apparatus, clarifies semantic problems connected with the imputation of existence, and marshals reasons for. Word and objectin wo, quine rejects the meaning skepticism charge wo, p.
The theory of translation philosophy cambridge core. Radical translation is a thought experiment in word and object, a major philosophical work from american philosopher willard van orman quine. Quine argues that there are no such things as meanings. The indeterminacy of translation chapter 3 the themes of. Lewis also differed from quine in embracing analyticity and modal logic, to which he contributed the axiomatic ssystems. Naturalism, a dominant strand in current philosophical thinking in the analytic.
Enrich your vocabulary with the english definition dictionary. While this refers mainly to translation between natural languages, it can also refer to individuals using the same language trying to understand one anothers full meaning. Quine definition in english dictionary, quine meaning, synonyms, see also quince,quinte,quinze,quin. Crispin wright suggests that this has been among the most widely discussed and controversi. Using this concept of radical translation, quine paints a setting where a linguist discovers a native linguistic. The first is associated with the analyticsynthetic distinction. Quines semantic relativity gilbert harman june 24, 2008 philosophers sometimes approach meaning metaphorically, for example, by speaking of grasping meanings, as if understanding consists in getting mental hands around something. The underdetermination thesis says different theories can be supported by the same evidence, and the indeterminacy thesis says the same component of a theory that is underdetermined by evidence is also. Quine argues that we do not need to know a very complete scheme of translation in order to provide the required explanations, i. If quine thinks there is no problem with assigning a definite stimulus meaning to. Philosophy of language, translation theory and a third. In chapter 12, soames turns to davidsons claim that theories of truth are theories of meaning. We can refer to quine s conclusion as meaning eliminativism or meaning nihilism his starting point is similar to the positivists.
Moreover, the connection between propositions, or sentence meanings, and translation was made explicit by quine already in word and object, where he noted. Googles free service instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between english and over 100 other languages. W v quine on the indeterminacy of translation youtube. Principles of translation as exemplified by bible translating. But there is little clarity in our understanding of naturalism and the role it plays in quine s work. His meaning is fairly clear and there is widespread agreement on what the thesis amounts to. What does he mean by this claim, and how does he argue for it. While this refers mainly to translation between natural languages, it can also refer to individuals using the same language trying to understand. We can therefore assign meaning, of a sort, to the rabbitheralding sentence gavagai. Quines argument for the indeterminacy of translation. Quine, speaking of objects and translation and meaning from word and object. It is very tempting, of course, to apply a little reflexivity and deny that there is.
Quine, naturalised meaning and empathy argumenta journal. This is the first book devoted to a defence of quine s indeterminacy of translation doctrine. The indeterminacy of translation is also discussed at length in his ontological relativity. Senses related to selfreference are derived from douglas hofstadters godel, escher, bach referencing the paradox named after him, while the verb sense of to deny the importance or significance of something was independently coined by daniel dennett in the philosophical lexicon. This can, perhaps, be better understood by looking at the meaning of holism, and contrasting it with another view of meaning. This was the milieu into which quine stepped as a young professor. We start from the conviction that while different varieties of translation raise different questions, there are important commonalities. A sentence has meaning, people thought, and another sentence is its translation if it has the same meaning. Quine on meaning and translation mind oxford academic. Prices in represent the retail prices valid in germany unless otherwise indicated. There is no need to suppress, of course, the obvious connection between a definition of truth of the kind tarski has shown how to construct, and the concept of meaning. Prices in gbp apply to orders placed in great britain only. The current paper explores one strand of quine s naturalist project, the strand that primarily deals with a naturalised account of language. The classic statement of this thesis can be found in his 1960 book word and object, which gathered together and refined much of quine s previous work on subjects other than formal logic and set theory.
Naturalism is the defining feature of the philosophy of willard van orman quine. Dolan, university of chicago this paper examines the theory of translation in quine s word and object and attempts to show that it involves tacit appeal to a premise concerning. Gaudet dissipates the confusion by examining afresh quine s whole concept of a fact of the matter, and evaluating the contributions to the debate by chomsky, rorty, friedman, gibson and follesdal in the light of her new interpretation. It is these correlations, between native utterances and english meanings proposed by the linguist, that quine calls analytic hypotheses. Quine on meaning and translation in word and object, chapter ii, quine advances a thesis about meaning and translation, his defence of which consists of arguments for what seem to be two distinct subsidiary views. In short, was that one can have quine, and chomsky too. Quine on meaning and translation, mind, volume lxxx, issue 317, 1 january 1971, pages 1091. Quine, naturalised meaning and empathy argumenta journal of. Lecture 34 of ideas of the twentieth century, fall 2015. During the 1970s it sometimes seemed to be as firmly entrenched a dogma among north american philosophers as the existence of god was among medieval theologians. For quine, the indeterminacy of translation has considerable ontological consequences, construed as leading to a sceptical conclusion regarding the existence of finegrained meaning facts. Quine synonyms, quine pronunciation, quine translation, english dictionary definition of quine. An obsolete spelling of this word, quean, shows more clearly the history of this word. Quine on meaning and translation1 philosophy cambridge core.
698 275 599 841 1078 117 202 258 1130 1228 1175 398 972 1043 784 1346 173 442 1051 1119 200 1133 1047 1123 90 84 502 682