Lauener Foundation for Analytical Philosophy
Symposium
Thursday 22 June - Friday 23 June 2006
Bern, Switzerland
2nd International Lauener Symposium on Analytical Philosophy
in honour of Professor Dagfinn Føllesdal
Prof. Dr. Olav Gjelsvik
(Universitetet i Oslo)
On "Meaning and Experience", Evidence, Causality
Dagfinn Føllesdal’s ”Meaning and Experience” from 1974 is an immensely rich paper. From the general perspective on meaning and content developed in it, Føllesdal makes a penetrating critical point about Davidson’s approach to radical interpretation, and shows that Davidson has a deep problem about false belief. It is fair to say that Davidson tried to respond to Føllesdal ever since, and that it remains an issue whether he really succeeded. In the light of the interchanges between them, I shall investigate what more we should say about the significance of assuming responsiveness to evidence in interpretation, and likewise about the exact role of causal knowledge herein.
