Book Description
Truth, Language, and History is the much-anticipated final volume of Donald Davidson's philosophical writings. In the four groups of essays that comprise it, Davidson continues to explore the themes that occupied him for more than fifty years: the relations between language and the world; speaker intention and linguistic meaning; language and mind; mind and body; mind and world; mind and other minds. He asks: what is the role of the concept of truth in these explorations? And, can a scientific world view make room for human thought without reducing it to something material and mechanistic? Davidson's underlying picture, which can be seen in many of these essays, is that we are acquainted directly with the world, not indirectly via some intermediary such as sense-data, representations, or language itself; that thought emerges in the first place through interpersonal communication in a shared material world, and continues to develop as we engage each other in dialogue; and that language depends on communication, not vice versa. This is the triangulating situation - two creatures communicating about a common world - about which Davidson has written elsewhere. As for the mind-body relation: our ontology need posit nothing more that material objects and events; but as explainers we require two mutually irreducible vocabularies: mind and body. In the last six essays Davidson finds interconnections between his own views and those of some of the major philosophers of the past.Including a new introduction by his widow, Marcia Cavell, this volume completes Donald Davidson's colossal intellectual legacy. ... Read more

Book Description
Donald Davidson (1917-2003) was one of the most important philosophers of the late twentieth century. His work on language and the theory of meaning has been particularly influential.Two of the world's leading authorities on Davidson's philosophy, Ernest Lepore and Kirk Ludwig, provide a systematic exposition of his work in this field and of his contributions to philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and epistemology which spring from it. Their second aim is to assess Davidson's program critically, to mark its successes, but also to identify where its ccomplishments fall short of its ambitions, and, since it is an on-going research program, to assess its prospects for the future, and to contribute to the expansion of that program. Criticizing and extending Davidson's thought, as well as providing an introduction to it, Lepore and Ludwig address a broad academic audience. Their work will be of fundamental importance for those who are coming to Davidson's work for the first time; while some philosophical sophistication and training is presupposed, it is accessible both to advanced undergraduates and to graduate students. It will also be welcomed by professional philosophers, linguists, and anyone wishing to assess and understand Davidson's remarkable intellectual legacy.Download Description
Donald Davidson has been one of the most influential figures in modern analytic philosophy and has made seminal contributions in a wide range of subjects: philosophy of language, philosophy of action, philosophy of mind, epistemology, metaphysics and the theory of rationality. His principal work, embodied in a series of landmark essays stretching over nearly 40 years, exhibits a unity rare among philosophers contributing on so many diverse fronts. Written by a distinguished team of philosophers, this volume includes chapters on truth and meaning, the philosophy of action, radical interpretation, philosophical psychology, knowledge of the external world, other minds and our own minds, and the implications of Davidson's work for literary theory. This is the only comprehensive introduction to the full range of Davidson's work, and as such it will be of particular value to advanced undergraduates, graduates and professionals in philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and literary theory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Finally! An in-depth, comprehensible intro to Davidson
NOTE TO READER:Unfortunately, due to a glitch in Amazon's review system, you can read this review from two different books:

The right book:Donald Davidson (Contemporary Philosophy in Focus) edited by Kirk Ludwig
The wrong book:Donald Davidson: Meaning, Truth, Language, and Reality written by Leport and Ludwig.

Although I recommend both books, this review is for the first book.

Davidson's philosophy is very systematic, but very unsystematically presented. It has only been available in bits and pieces--an essay here, an interview there, perhaps some conference proceedings, etc. Getting the big picture was almost as hard as studying a pointalistic painting under a microscope--each dot was there, but how do they form a coherent whole?

This circumstance makes the appearance of this book quite fortunate indeed.Each chapter is written by first-rate philosophers who can do a first-rate job of presenting Davidson's philosophy to a newbie audience.

A note of caution: as I'm sure the authors themselves would agree, reading this book is NOT a substitute for reading Davidson's essays.This book isn't a substitute for Davidson, but a wide and accessible road which leads to Davidson.After reading this book you will be able to understand and confront Davidson's essays directly--an experience which has profoundly affected even very great philosophers such as Quine and Rorty. ... Read more

Book Description
Subjective, Intersubjective, Objective is the long-awaited third volume of philosophical writings by Donald Davidson, whose influence on philosophy since the 1960s has been deep and broad. His first two collections, published by OUP in the early 1980s, are recognized as contemporary classics.Now Davidson presents a selection of his work on knowledge, mind, and language from the 1980s and the 1990s.We all have knowledge of our own minds, knowledge of the contents of other minds, and knowledge of the shared environment. Davidson examines the nature and status of each of these three sorts of knowledge, and the connections and differences among them.Along the way he has illuminating things to say about truth, human rationality, and the relations among language, thought, and the world. This new volume offers a rich and rewarding feast for anyone interested in philosophy today, and is essential reading for anyone working on its central topics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Classic Articles
Oxford is in the process of re-issuing these Davidson anthologies.The anthologies on truth and action do not have much new material.This anthology has some excellent previously published articles on self-knowledge/epistemology and rationality, which has become necessary reading on these respective topics.

Also, look out for new stuff in Vol. 4 and 5 in this series.

I also recommend Stroud's work on Davidson, which can be found in both of his recent collections (Oxford UP). ... Read more

Book Description
Donald Davidson presents a new edition of the 1984 volume which set out his enormously influential philosophy of language. Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation has been a central point of reference and a focus of controversy in the subject ever since, and its influence has extended into linguistic theory, philosophy of mind, and epistemology. This new edition features an additional essay, previously uncollected. The central question which these essays address is what it is for words to mean what they do. Davidson argues that a philosophically instructive theory of meaning should acknowledge the holistic nature of linguistic understanding, in that it should provide an interpretation of all utterances, actual and potential, of a speaker or group of speakers; and that it should not rely upon the concepts it attempts to explain, in that it should be verifiable independently of knowledge of the detailed propositional attitudes of the speaker. Among the topics covered in the essays are the relation between theories of truth and theories of meaning, translation, quotation, belief, radical interpretation, reference, metaphor, and communication. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

very hard to read, but pays
As the previous reviewer says, the book contains many of Davidson's seminal papers in the philosophy of language. This book, however, cannot be used as an introduction to anything, not to philosophy of language and not even to Davidson's. His style is extremely compressed, and sometimes he merely intimates what should be carefully explained. What it ideally takes two paragraphs to say, Davidson says in two lines; each sentence is therefore crammed up with thoughts; at some places the author becomes oracular.

I would love to say that Ramberg's book on Davidson can be of help for the beginner, but I must confess instead that I find Davidson's "Inquires" an excellent commentary on Ramberg.

This book will be understood only by those who are already trained in philosophy of language and who understand some logic too. I said "only by", not "by all".

For critical comments on the contents of the book, I refer the reader to a rather harsh and carping review by Jonathan Bennett, I think it was in "Mind", 1985.

As one reviewer in the backcover says, "struggle and learn". Here you have a great book by a great philosopher of language.

Read it!
Excellent book. A must read for everyone interested in philosophy of language. This book contains all of Davidson's important articles concerning philosophy of language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Still many important lessons
At the risk of terrible understatement, it's pretty clear that the Southern Agrarians did not have a huge impact on the political climate of their era (primarily the 1930s). However, while their political success was small, the ripples of their intellectual impact continue to be felt today. And so while parts of this book, one of the most articulate presentations of the agrarian position, are somewhat dated, there's still a lot of value for modern readers.

The book got off to a slow start for me. Davidson's presentation of the theory and history of American regionalism, in a section titled "The Nation We Are," is important, but much of it summarizes, or reacts to, the work of historians and sociologists now even more obscure than the Agrarians themselves (Frederick Jackson Turner being a notable exception). While Davidson makes important points about the endogenous or organic nature of regions, regional characteristics, and regional loyalties -- in distinction to the imposed, artificial, and largely arbitrary nature of political divisions like counties or states -- his focus on the social science of the 1930s is not a terrifically compelling read today.

Once we get past that first section, though, the reading is much, much more rewarding. This is particularly true of the second section, titled "Immovable Bodies and Irresistible Forces," which focuses on defining the characteristics of various American regions and the people who live there. I especially enjoyed "Still Rebels, Still Yankees," which contrasts Brother Jonathan of Yankeetown, Vermont, with Cousin Roderick of Rebelville, Georgia. "The Two Old Wests," an exploration of how frontier, geographic, and cultural influences blended, with very different results, in the Old Southwest (Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and later Texas) and Old Northwest (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and other parts of the modern "Midwest"), was fascinating.And "The Great Plains," a précis of Walter Prescott Webb's important book of the same title with Davidson's own expanded commentary, extends the analysis to the foothills of the Rockies. As a Seattleite, I would have liked to have seen Davidson carry his discussion all the way to the Pacific coast, but I can't complain about what he did do.

Entertaining and valuable as all this is, the most useful section for modern students of politics and regionalism might be the chapter titled "Expedients vs. Principles -- Cross-Purposes in the South." Davidson here makes a number of important, and still timely, points, including illustrating how attacks on the "backward" South are frequently Trojan horses for the imposition of another, usually Northeastern, political or social agenda. The author also argues, contra those who say the Constitution and federalist system are outdated because "the Founders couldn't foresee" the nature of modern society, that indeed, Jefferson and his contemporaries did foresee the coming of large-scale industrialism and the destructive effects it would have on agrarian society.

Reading Davidson today, one can't help but wonder whether things are much worse, or perhaps a little better, than during his day. One the one hand, monopoly industrialism has in some senses given way to the "new economy" driven by high technology. On the other hand, American culture is more monolithic than ever, thanks to mass media and popular culture that are far more pervasive and homogenizing than in the '30s. Are there any discernable differences between Brother Jonathan's and Cousin Roderick's twenty-first century great-grandchildren? It's a question worth investigating, and Davidson's insights are as valuable and provocative today as they were nearly 70 years ago.

A Neglected Classic
This book should be read by anyone interested American political thought, and particularly on the history of localism, state's rights, and American conservatism.

Davidson was one of the original 'Twelve Southerners' of I'll take My Stand fame, who was interested in defending the unique cultural, social, and political values of the American south. He takes a very combative view of regionalism, caught in a struggle with nationalism and national identity. Its really a struggle over flavors; a national culture and politics would wash out all of the unique and colorful elements of local societies, the customs and traditions that have been built up over years, that structure the lives of local citizens. National society would become increasingly homogenized, and democratized. Citizens would become identical, little automatons, and culture would eventually be controlled by the taste of the lowest common denominator. The precious differences between people, between regions, between New England, the West and the South, would no longer exist, and the ties to the past, that make the present tolerable, stable, and peaceful would be lost forever.

Davidson, like the other 'Southerners' was unwilling to confront the biggest problem in the south. Race was one of the inheritances of the past, and one that would not be fixed within the southern tradition, as it was understood in the 1940's and 1950's. Race relations demanded a 'modern' solution, based on the idea that all citizens were Americans and individuals, entitled to their rights and liberties, and that local customs and traditions could not stand in the way of ensuring every citizen civil rights.

But, to disregard Davidson (and disregard other Southern conservatives like Weaver, or Tate and the others of the 12) is to risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater. As we drift into the 21st Century, it would be nice to have a greated sense of rootedness in a community, and an identification with local cultures and customs. 'Survivor', 'Big Brother', and 'The Weakest Link'- as are other tv shows- are a sure demonstration that our culture is increasingly focusing on the lowest denominator, and have abdicated any responsibility for improving the cultural level and understadning of Americans. The broader the audience, the more one has to appeal to base emotions and feelings. Finally, we are beginning to sense that the national government cannot fix all problems. It is too remote, and to clumsy an instrument for dealing with problems that are varied and diverse in different cities, counties, and states. The states and local governments, closer to the problems, with a better understanding of the regional and local diversity of social and political conditions are a better forum for experimentation and adaptation than the federal government.

We still have something to learn from these conservatives. An understanding of their views towards localism, the importance of local cultures, and the preservation of traditions and customs, can help us as the US adapts to its own changing political and social environment. ... Read more

Book Description
The Essential Davidson compiles the most celebrated papers of one of the twentieth century's greatest philosophers. It distils Donald Davidson's seminal contributions to our understanding of ourselves, from three decades of essays, into one thematically organized collection. A new, specially written introduction by Ernie Lepore and Kirk Ludwig, two of the world's leading authorities on his work, offers a guide through the ideas and arguments, shows how they interconnect, and reveals the systematic coherence of Davidson's worldview. Davidson's philosophical program is organized around two connected projects. The first is that of understanding the nature of human agency. The second is that of understanding the nature and function of language, and its relation to the world. Accordingly, the first part of the book presents Davidson's investigation of reasons, causes, and intentions, which revolutionized the philosophy of action. This leads to his notable doctrine of anomalous monism, the view that all mental events are physical events, but that the mental cannot be reduced to the physical. The second part of the book presents the famous essays in which Davidson set out his highly original and influential philosophy of language, which founds the theory of meaning on the theory of truth.These fifteen classic essays will be invaluable for anyone interested in the study of mind and language. Fascinating though they are individually, it is only when drawn together that there emerges a compelling picture of man as a rational linguistic animal whose thoughts, though not reducible to the material, are part of the fabric of the world, and whose knowledge of his own mind, the minds of others, and the world around him is as fundamental to his nature as the power of thought and speech itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

If you were stranded on a desert island and were only allowed one Davidson book.....
The editors gave themselves quite a task when they decided to compile this book, which aims to bring together in one handy volume the essential works of Davidson.I have to admit, if I were charged with the task, I'd give up.My ideal one-volume collection of Davidson's essays would simply be all of his essays--printed on that very thin paper they use for Bibles and available in a nice leather-bound edition, with quotations from Quine printed in red letters.

But given such a brutal page budget,the authors do a very good job, I think, of choosing essays.Particularly well represented is the development of Davidson's theories about Events and Actions.

A few choices the authors made strike me as odd.The first is the inclusion of the essay "A Coherence Theory of Truth" which Davidson states is, of all his essays, the one he'd like to rewrite the most.The essay was the opening words in a conversation which has lasted for decades now between Davidson, Rorty, Ramberg, and many others.Since the entire conversation couldn't possibly fit in the volume, why not just drop it entirely?There are also two odd ommisions:Why not include 'The structure and content of Truth?'and why not include "Laws and Cause"?

*sigh* choosing is an impossible task.I won't further quibble with the choices.

Does this book capture the essense of Davidson?The answer is inevitably no, but not because this is a necessarily bad collection of essays--it is because, for the most Quinean of reasons, Davidson _has_ no essence. ... Read more

Book Description
Donald Davidson has prepared a new edition of his classic 1980 collection of Essays on Actions and Events, including two additional essays. In this seminal investigation of the nature of human action, Davidson argues for an ontology which includes events along with persons and other objects. Certain events are identified and explained as actions when they are viewed as caused and rationalized by reasons; these same events, when described in physical, biological, or physiological terms, may be explained by appeal to natural laws. The mental and the physical thus constitute irreducibly discrete ways of explaining and understanding events and their causal relations.Among the topics discussed are: freedom to act; weakness of the will; the logical form of talk about actions, intentions, and causality; the logic of practical reasoning; Hume's theory of the indirect passions; and the nature and limits of decision theory. The introduction, cross-references, and appendices emphasize the relations between the essays and explain how Davidson's views have developed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Anomalous monism makes no sense
In fact, very little of what Davidson says makes much sense. Maybe it's just me, but I read this book, and "Essays on Truth and Interpretation" or whatever it's called, and don't have much idea what they were even about. What I will say is this: the prose is outstanding. Maybe the best of any philosopher. Just exceptional prose. No "Elements of Style" lessons needed here. Davidson can write. But can he think? This I just don't know. My guess is, yes...he can. As a critic of philosophy, I think he would be very good. That is, I think he could make apt comments on the philosophy of others. Find gaps in arguments, stuff like that. The observation that quotations are in fact structured, contra Quine, else languages would be unlearnable (in the other book, not this one)--that sort of thing. He does this, actually, fairly regularly. Left to himself, however, I'm less hopeful. Maybe this is a question of creativity, or judgment. It's these qualities I find lacking in Davidson's otherwise tremendous writing.

I liken Davidson to a chessplayer who, as a kibitzer, can regularly spot combinations over the shoulders of other players who miss them, but who, as a player, can't get himself into the sorts of positions where he can make those same combinations.

Average rating - some papers 4-5 stars; some less
This is the standard collection of Davidson's early writings on events, action, and some of his work on the philosophy of mind and psychology. Some of the papers are very good ("The Logical Form of Action Sentences" is rightly regarded as a classic) whereas some other papers (e.g. "Mental Events") are obscure and confused. The latter suffers from (apparently) a lack of contact with how psychology (and in particular, cognitive neuroscience) is practiced. I nevertheless recommend the volume as a good collection of papers by one of the 20th century's more influential philosophers. I should note in passing that Davidson's current views on the individuation of events are not discussed in any of the papers. For that, see _Actions and Events: Perspectives on the Philosphy of Donald Davidson_ and his article "Reply to Quine on Events" therein.

Defeat of behaviorism and an embrace of free will
As a guy who wrote no books, Davidson's two published collections have done the work of securing his legacy. In this volume, among other things,we have the papers that argue for two of his most important theses inphilosophy of mind. (1) The behaviorists argued that every state of mindwas at best a disposition to some behavior, as in Gilbert Ryle's _TheConcept of Mind_. Davidson, in "Actions, Reasons, Causes" and acouple of other papers in this volume, laid bare one of the essentialarguments that put down this view for good. We often have many reasons orother mental states upon which we do not act. But such beliefs or desiresare still reasons, and still mental states--just ones that behaviorismcan't account for. (2) Davidson argues for the oft-maligned but influentialthesis of anomalous monism, as a strategy to resolve the worries arisingfrom "materialism of the mental". If the mind is mere matter,then physics will eventually figure out its laws! Then where will our freewill be? Davidson argues, relying on some tendentious claims about what alaw is, that there can never be laws of the mental *even though* there arelaws of the physical stuff. The mental is anomalous and notlawlike.

Anyway, this volume is a very important piece of recentphilosophy of mind. It also sets into motion an important tradition ofthinking about moral psychology, action theory and ethics from theperspective of reasons for agential action. ... Read more

Book Description
Problems of Rationality is the eagerly awaited fourth volume of Donald Davidson's philosophical writings. From the 1960s until his death in August 2003 Davidson was perhaps the most influential figure in English-language philosophy, and his work has had a profound effect upon the discipline.
His unified theory of the interpretation of thought, meaning, and action holds that rationality is a necessary condition for both mind and interpretation. Davidson here develops this theory to illuminate value judgements and how we understand them; to investigate what the conditions are for
attributing mental states to an object or creature; and to grapple with the problems presented by thoughts and actions which seem to be irrational. Anyone working on knowledge, mind, and language will find these essays essential reading. ... Read more

Book Description
An introduction to the Southern Critics for those who do not know them. Dr. Cowan has concentrated on the three founders of the school--Ransom, Tate, and Davidson--because it was in their minds and imagination that the movement took form. ... Read more

Book Description
Ernest Lepore and Kirk Ludwig present the definitive critical exposition of the philosophical system of Donald Davidson (1917-2003).Davidson's ideas had a deep and broad influence in the central areas of philosophy; he presented them in brilliant essays over four decades, but never set out explicitly the overarching scheme in which they all have their place.Lepore's and Ludwig's book will therefore be the key work, besides Davidson's own, for understanding one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fine biography; a necessary rescue
The lack of attention Donald Davidson has received since his death isscandalous. No doubt it stems in part from his racicialist views andresistance to the civil rights movement. Well Davidson was a flawedman--but to call him a "Racist" ( His old friend Robert PennWarren's daughter says that his name was never spoken in their house onthat account--I find it hard to believe) is simply to miss the measure ofthe man. He was a fine poet (just a notch below Robert Penn Warren and JohnCrowe Ransom) and a brilliant literary critic and teacher. His "Attackon Leviathan" is essential reading for those who confuse conservatismwith Newt Gingrich, and his poem "Lee in the Mountains" is atribute not only to a lost cause, but to all lost causes, and shouldtherefore resonate with all but the incurable narcissist.Winchell hasdone us a great service by presenting the man warts and allto us. If weever get beyond the name calling that passesfor political and literaryjudgement these days it will be due in large measure to books like thisone. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is an introduction to and interpretation of the philosophy of language devised by Donald Davidson over the past 25 years. The guiding intuition is that Davidson's work is best understood as an ongoing attempt to purge semantics of theoretical reifications. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Metaphysics, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2006. The length of the article is 823 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Davidson, Donald. Truth and Predication.(Book review)
Author: Alex Orenstein
Publication: The Review of Metaphysics (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 60Issue: 1Page: 145(3)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more