Child - On the Dualism of Scheme and Content

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On the Dualism of Scheme and ContentAuthor(s): William ChildSource: Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, New Series, Vol. 94 (1994), pp. 53-71Published by: on behalf ofWiley Aristotelian SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4545187Accessed: 06-03-2016 21:47 UTC

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V*ONTHEDUALSMOFSCHEMEAND

CONTENT

by W a m Ch d

DonadDavdsontes usthatthedua smofschemeand

contentoforganzng systemandsomethngwatng tobe

o rga nz ed 1 s unnt e g b e Snce thatd ua s mha s d omna ted a nd

defnedtheprobemsofmodemphosophy tsreectonpromses

a r ev o uto nn o urway s o fthnkng a bo utp ho s op hy 2

Butwhatexacty sthedua smofschemeandcontent andwhat

ssupposedtobewrongw th t? sthereust onepostonunder

attack onesortofph osophca mstakebeng dentfed?Orare

thereanumberofdfferentpostons?f so howarethosepostons

reated?Andhows scheme-contentduasm connectedtothe

p ro b ems o fp ho s o p hy t s s a d t o d efne a nd to theo therp ho -

sophcapost onswthwh ch thasbeenassocated?

Therehasbeena shft ntheemphassofDavdsonsown

dscussonswhch makesthesequestonsespeca ypressngThe

contextofh s nt a dscussonofscheme-contentdua smwasan

nvestgatonofconceptua reatvsm-thevew thattherecoud be

conceptuaschemeswhchd ffersomassveythattheyare

mutuayun nte gbe or ncommensurabe orforeverbeyond

ratonaresove 3Thesuggestonwasthatsomethng kethe

notonofun nterpretedcontent s necessaryf we areto make

senseofconceptuareat vsm4 somethngwoud countasa

conceptuaschemef torganzedthsneutra content thatwoud

*Meetngof theArstoteanSocety hed ntheSen orCommonRoom BrkbeckCoege

LondononMonday22ndNovember 1993at815p m

1 Da v ds o n1 9 74 p 1 8 9

2Davdson1989a thefrstquotaton sfromp163 thesecondfromp167

3Da v d so n1 9 8 9a p 1 6 0

4Davdson1989bp 69emphassadded


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3/20

54WALLAMCHLD

makeroomforconceptuareatv sm sncetwoschemesmght

organzethe sameneutra content butorganze tsod fferentythat

theyweremutuayun nte gbe Sncethe focuswasconceptua

reatvsm theman targetofDavdsonseary dscussonwasthe

deaofa duasm ofconceptua schemeandneutra orunnterpreted

content nh smorerecentdscussonstheemphasshasmovedto

questonsaboutthepossb tyofthoughtandknowedge fwe

conceveofexperenceasnhabt ngapurey nterna subectve

r e amca nweexp a nhow t s p o ss b e t o ha v e thoug ht s a nd

knowedgeaboutanobectve mnd-ndependentword?Herethe

duasm ofschemeandcontents adua smofconceptua scheme

andpureysubectve word-ndependentcontent5s ths usta

dfference nemphassor arethereactua ytwod fferent and

ndependent duasmsunderdscusson?

Twometaphorshavebeenusedtoexpa nthe deaofadua sm

ofconceptuaschemeandemprca content theres thedeaof the

duasmof aconceptua schemeandwhat torganzesandthe dea

o f a s chemea nd wha t tft s 6 s ha co ncentr at e o nthefr s tNow

wecanc assfyversonsofscheme-contentduasm ntermsofthe

natureofthecontentwhchour schemesortheoresaresad to

organze Therearetwokeydstnctons Onedstncton sbetween

versonsn whchthe contentwhch schemesorganzes reaty

natureorthe word andversonsn whchthe content sexperence

For s ho rt w t a ko fthed ua s mo fs chemea nd wo rd a nd the

duasmof schemeandexperence Aseconddstncton whch

cutsacrossthef rst sbetweenvewsonwhch thecontent s

neutr a o runnt erp re t ed a nd tho se o nwhch t s no tDa v d so ns

expc tthatsomeonecanbecommttedtoadua smofschemeand

experencewthoutth nkngofthe contentasunnterpreted what

matters snotwhetherwecandescrbethe content na neutra

theory-free dom butrather thatthereshoud beanu tmate

sourceofev dencewhosecharactercanbewho yspecfed wthout

r efer ence t owha t t s ev d encefo r 7 s ha d s tng us hb etween

5Ths snotto saythatquestonsabouttruthandreferenceareabsentfromtheeary

dscusson northatquestonsaboutconceptua reatvsm areabsentfromthe ater

dscussonsForthef rstpont seeDavdson1974pp 192and198Forthe second see

Davdson1989a pp159-60and 1989b p69

6 Se eDa v d so n1 9 7 4 p 1 9 1

7Da v d so n1 9 8 9a p 1 6 2




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ONTHEDUALSM OFSCHEMEANDCONTENT55

theduasm ofschemeandneutra experence andthedua smof

schemeandword-ndependentexperence And w suggest

there sa reateddstncton betweentwoversonsofscheme-word

d ua s m

Whats supposedtobewrongwththatdua sm or those

d ua s ms ? thnkwec a nd entfy fourmanthemes n theDav d -

s o nanp o emc Fr s t o p p os t o nto thed e a tha t o urb e ef s a nd

theoresresutfromtheorganzatonofa neutraorun nterpreted

contentSecond oppost ontothe deathatthewordhasan

ntrnscstructure absouteyndependentofa conceptsand

theoresThrd opposton tothe deathatourbe efsandmeanngs

arebasedonev denceaffordedbya cassofword-ndependent

experencesFourth theca mthattherecoudbe nosuchthngas

avew oftheword achevedfromoutsdea conceptsany

nvestgatonof theword s necessary conductedfromastand-

pont ofengagement8

Oneway o fthnkng o fthed ua s mo fs chemea nd co nt ent s a s a

duasmof totaschemeor anguageandun nterpretedcontent

thecontent onths vew s somethngneutraandcommonthat

es o ut s de a s chemes 9And a s s a d wec a nthnk nthe se t e rms

whetherweth nkofconceptua schemesasorganzngtheword

orasorganzngexperenceSo wecanthnk oftheneutracontent

asan unnterpretedreaty atheory-neutra reaty 1Oorwe can

thnkof tas aneement nthem nduntouchedbyconceptua

nterpretaton theunnterpretedgven theuncategorzedcontents

o fexper ence thnk nfa c tfo rv a r ous r e as ons tha t t s

nfec toustotak ofschemesorganzngan unnterpretedor

unconceptuazedcontent12So prefertodescrbeths formof

scheme-contentduasm asadua smofschemeandneutra or

unstructured content

8 M cDowe 1 9 86 a p 3 8 1

9Davdson1974pp 187and190emphasesadded

10Davdson1974 pp198and195respectvey

11Davdson1989app 160emphassaddedand161

12MarkSansburybroughtthspont hometome




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5 6WLLAMCHLD

startw ththe deathattheformatonof beefs nvovesthe

nt erp re t at o no fa neutra r e a ty Her e the d e a s tha t theword s

competeyunstructureda baresomethng amassofundffer-

entatedstuff Sonodescrptonor conceptonofthe wordcan

char a ct e r z e thewo rd a s t s n t s e fAny d e scrp to nmustb e

structuredfor tmustexpot conceptsandcategores Andsnce

theword tsef sunstructuredthere sboundtobesomedstorton

whenwerepresent t nthoughtoranguage

Ad fferentversonofthe samevewa owsthatthewordhas

anntrnsc structurebutagreesthatnodescrptonorconcepton

c a nc ap tur e theword a s t r e a y s wtho utd s t o rt o nAny co n-

ceptonwecanform sshapedbyourcapactesand nterestsso t

cannotrefecttheobectvestructureoftheword thestructure

whchtheword hasabsoutey ndependentofus

Nowaccordngto theant-duast thedeathata descrptonsor

systemsofconceptsdstortreaty sunnte gbe Thebascthought

s o ne ha ve a r e a dy mento ned tha t ther e s no s uchthng a s a v ew

achevedfromoutsdea conceptsThecoro aryaccordngtothe

a nt - dua s t s tha twec annotfo rma co ncepto fr e a ty whcha ows

ustounderstandthe deathatourconceptsdstortreaty Todoso

wewoudneedtogetoutsdeour conceptsandgrappewthout

dstortonwth therea 13Buttocontempatethewordw thoutthe

dstortonofour ownconcepts wewoud havetocontempate t

wtho ut theb enefto fc a t ego r e s a nd co ncep ts a t a A nd tha t s a

contradcton ntermsto thnk usts toempoycategoresand

concepts

Wecanputthesamepont na dfferentway Supposewetryto

make s ense o fthed e a o f a neutra wo rd b y thnkng o fthewo rd

smpy asthatwhch sorganzedbyconceptuaschemes

Somethngcan onybe organzedbya scheme f tcontans or

co ns s t s n thng s or o b e c ts tmus tb e a p ur a ty But what ever

p u ra t y w e t ak e r e a t y t o c on s st n w e w h av e to n d v d u at e

a c co rd ng to f am a rp rncp e s 1 4Awo rd co ns s tng o fo b e ct s

13 Davidson 1974 p185, from where the quotation in the next sentence of text is also

taken

14 Davidson 1974 p192 Davidson actually formulates this as a claim about the idea of

uninterpreted experience But it is clear from the context that he would be prepared to

usetheformuaton nbothcases




6/20

ONTHEDUALSMOF SCHEMEANDCONTENT57

nd v d uat ed a cco rd ng to f am a rp rncp e s w b e thef am a r

wordofrocksandstonesandtrees ofatomsmoecues eectrons

andtherest Andthatconceptonofthe worddoesnotsustanthe

deathatourdescrptonsdstortormsrepresent t

Nowther e s a no b v o us o b ec t o nto the c amtha t the d e a of a

neutr a r e a ty s unnt e g b e Whatha s b e ens hown s tha twe

cannotformadeta edconceptonof thewordw thoutusngour

conceptsanydeta eddescrptonofrea tymustsee ntheword

the s tr ucture mp ct no ur co ncept s But td o e s no tfo owfrom

that tha twec annotfo rmtheb a re d e a ofthewo rd a s t s n t s e f

wthoutreadngstructurento t we ustdounderstandthedeaof

theword a s t s n t s e f a nd us ng tha tb ar ed e a o ftheword we

canmakesenseof thethoughtthatourdescrptonsdstortthe

word

Thoma s N ag eha s o b e c ted n us t ths way to thev ewtha t we

do notpossessacompeteygeneraconceptofrea tythatreaches

b ey ond a ny po s s b ef ng n o ft s co ntent tha tweco ud n

prncpe understand 5Toshowthatwe dohaveacompetey

genera conceptofrea tyofthatsort heappeastoan obvousy

nt e g b ep o s s b ty Weca nma g ne a s p ec e s o fb eng s who

a havethepermanentmentaageofordnaryhumannne-year-

ods Thosebengs thenne-year-ods coudnotunderstand

Maxwes equatonsorthegeneratheoryofreatv tyorGode s

theo r em Butthey co ud ha v e a a ng uag e a nd mghtb e s m a r

enoughto ussothatther anguagewastransatabentopartof

o urs 1 6Nowb y the s amer e as o nng t s p er fe c ty nt e g b e tha t

thereshoud beh gherbengsre atedtousaswe arereatedtothe

nne-year-odsandcapabeof understandngaspectsoftheword

thatarebeyondourcomprehenson 1Thefactthatthathypothess

s nt e g b e s hows tha tweunder st a nd the c am that there co ud

beaspectsofrea tywhch weareconsttutonay ncapabeof

concevng

Supp o sewe a g r ee tha tN ag e s o b v ous y nt eg b ep o s s b -

ty s nd eed nt e g b e o ur concep to no ftheword a ows us t o

understandthec am thatthereareaspectsofreaty ofwhch we

1 5N a g e 1 9 86 p p 9 3 - 4

1 6N a ge 1 9 86 p 9 5

1 7 b d




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5 8WLLAMCHLD

cannot evenn prncpe formanydetaedconceptonThatdoes

notsupportthedua smofschemeandneutraword fort does

notshowthatwehaveaconceptonoftheword whchsustans

the deathatourdescrptonsd storttheword Whatweare

concedng sthattheh gherbengscoudd scernevesof struc-

ture nthewo rd towhchwe a r eb nd Thatd o e s not s up po r t the

deathatourdescrptonsdstortthewordby mposngstructure

o na r e a ty whch s ntrns ca y uns tructured o rwho se ntrns c

structures nscrutabetous Theaddtona structurewhchthe

hg herb eng s a r e a b e t o d s c ernw b efner- g ra ned o rmor e

compexthanthestructurewed scern Butthats noreasontosay

thatthestructuretheydscerns aone therea structureofthe

word northattheworddoesnotrea yhavethestructured s-

cernedby ourconcepts

SoNages thoughtexpermentdoesnotshowthatwehavea

conceptofrea tyofthesortwhch thescheme-wordduast

requresButto saythats nottoshowthatwecoud nothavesuch

aconceptForthat wewoud needsomemoreexp ct defenceof

anaccountofwhatdetermnesthecontentofour concepts ofthe

wo rd Theremay we b e s omethng to b e s a d b y the a nt -d ua s t

a t ths s t ag eBut thnkt s f a r t o s a y thatDa v d so nha s not

provdedenoughby wayofanexp ct theoryofwhatdetermnes

thecontentofour conceptoftheword todemonstratethatthe

d ua s t s c o ncepto no fthewo rd mus tb e empty Ths s o nep o nt

thena twhch thnkther e s a a cuna n the a nt - d ua s t c a se

SomeonemghtsuggestthatDavdsoncoudappea tothe

p rncp e o fchar ty o r fy o up r eferhumanty to g v eus the

accountofcontentrequredBut donotseehowthatappeacan

d o a theworkr e qur ed fthe s ugg e st o ns that a thnkerha s o ny

theconceptswhch wecoud ascrbeonthebassof chartabe

nterpretaton tbegsthequestontosupposethatthatcoud show

thatnothnkerhasthebareconceptofanunstructuredword

everythngdependsonthe questonwhetherwe thenterpreters

havethatconceptA ternatvey thesuggestonm ghtbethatwe

s houd a p p ea t o a nd e awhchhep s t o g r ound thep rncp e o f

charty-thedeathattheconceptsa thnkerhasareparta y

determnedbythecharacterof thethngsandk ndswthwh chshe

nt er a ct s c a us a y But t s no t c e a rhowtha thep s Fo r o ne thng

a s Da v ds onhms efa ows thos e c a us a r e a t o ns o ny p a rt a y




8/20


detennneour conceptsanddo sodrecty ony nthemostbasc

andprmt vecases18sot sopentothescheme-worddua stto

suggestthatotherconcept-formngresourcesarenvoved n

reachngthe verygeneraconceptoftheword Foranotherthng

theres noneedforthedua sttodenythatwehavethebareconcept

o f a neutr awo rd p a r ty nv r tue o fo ur c a us a nt er a ct o ns wth

thatwo rd So cha r ty a o new no tf the a cuna

Theversonsofscheme-worddua smwehavebeenconsderng

nvovethe deathatourdescrptonsdstortreaty Andtheattack

o nthat d e a s a d s o nemanthemeo fthe c a se a g a nst s cheme-

contentdua smBut the deaofdstortonseemsnessenta The

othercentra eement ntheversonsofdua sm havebeencon-

s d erng s the d e a tha t theword ha s a nntrns c s t r ucture o r a ck

ofstructurewho y ndependentofthestructureoftheconceptswe

usetodescrbe t Thatsuggestsathrdversonof scheme-word

d ua s mwhchke ep s ths d e a b utd r o ps thed e a o fd s t o rt o n n

ths thrd v ew the s tr ucturewed s c e rnnthng s s t s e f the s tr ucture

whchs r e a y there nthewo rd a b s o utey nd ep end ento fus And

a na tur a v er s o no fthev ewwo ud equa te thewo rd a s t s n t s e f

wththe wordascharacterzedbyscence Scentf cconcepts by

contrastwth ourmoresubectve non-scentfc conceptscapture

theword na perspectve-freewaySothe structuredscernedby

thos e co ncept s s a s t r uc tur ewhchs ther en theword a s t s n

tsef absouteyndependentofus andourconceptsOn thsv ew

theenterprseof descrbng the furntureoftheword the thngs

nthemseves apartfromourconceptua mposton ssmp ythe

enterprseof dongscence 19

sthereanyobecton toths newversonofscheme-word

duasm?Centrato theDavdsonanargumentoftheprevous

sectonwasthepont thatanyconceptonofthe wordweformmust

d s p a y t a s s tr uctured n theway s mp ct no urd e scrp to ns But

thatp o nt c a nb eno o b e ct o nto the curr entv ew fo ur s c entfc

conceptsdrectyrefectthe ntrnscstructureoftheword thefact

1 8 Se e eg Da v ds on 1 9 83 p p 3 1 7 -8

19Putnam1983 p208




9/20

6 0WLLAMCHLD

thatweareconstranedtousethoseconcepts ndescrbngrea ty

d o e s not s howtha twec a nno td es crber e a ty a s t s n t s e f n

usngourscent fc conceptsthat sprecseywhatwe aredong

Tocounterthsvew wewoud needtoshowthatnosetof

concepts ncudngour scentfc conceptscanbe thoughtofas

transparentyrepresentngtheword as t s n tsef-thatwe do

notunderstandthe deathatthewordhasan ntrnscstructure

absouteyndependentofa conceptsHowm ghtweshowthat?

What evermay be mp ct nDa v d so n t s e ems tometha the

hms efha s nothng d r e cty to s a y a b out ths s s ue But c ams n

Wttgenstens aterphosophyareverymuchtothepont

Thep ctur e o fther e a t o no fmnd a nd wo rd whchemerg es n

theTractatusembodesthesortof scheme-wordduasm weare

consderng20Thewordhasan absoutey obectvestructure

whchourconceptssmpyp ckupandrefect Theressomethng

a rb tr a ry nv o ved n s e ttng up a a ngua ge fo r t s up to us t o

choosewhch namestoattachtowh chobectsBut thats theony

contrbutonwemakethe word tsefsuppes thethngsand

categorestowh chourwordsattach sooncetheattachment s

made na momentarychrstenng theword tsefdetermneswhat

countsasgong onusnga wordn thesameway

Wttgenst ens a t er r e a ct o na g a nst ths v ews neffec t a

reactonaganstscheme-word duasm Onearean whchthe

r ea c t o ns exp c t s hs d s cus s o no ffo owng a rue2 1W ttgen-

stenarguedthattheworddoesnothaveadetermnatestructure

nv r tue o fwhcho ne thng o r o neus e o f awo rd s a b so ut ey

o b e ctv ey the s ame a s a nother o rno t So t s am s t ake t o thnk

thatwhatcountsasgong on nthesameway sdetermnedbythe

reanatureofthngs absouteyndependentofwhatwe fnd t

na tur a t o c a s s t o ge ther o nce tr a ned howwefnd tna tur a t o g o

onpayssomepartn determn ngthecategoreswe graspand

ther efo r en fxngwha t co unt s a s g o ng o n nthe s ameway

Anothermanfestatonof Wttgenstens reectonofscheme-

worddua sm shs reectonofthe thoughtthatcertan concepts

areabsoutey thecorrectones andthathavngdfferentoneswoud

20SeeWttgensten 1961

21SeeW ttgensten 1958sectons143-242 and1978 partV




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meannotreaz ngsomethngthatwerea ze22Descrptons

empoyngoneset ofconceptshavenomoreca mtocapturethe

rea ntrnscstructureofthewordthando descrptonsempoyng

a dfferentsetofconcepts

N owthere s a f am a rd ffcuty n expr e ss ng the a nt -d ua s t

v ewFo r nd eny ng the s cheme-wo rd d ua s t s c ams we s o und

asf wearedenyngcommonsensetruths Andnaturay wedont

wanttodeny anythng23Consderoursc entfc conceptsOnesort

ofdua stsaysthatthestructurethoseconceptsdscerns merey

a na r tf ac t o ftheway we s e e thng s t s mp os ed b y us onthewo rd

Reactngfromthatbutretanng theduasm theothersortof

dua stsaysthatthestructuredscernedbyourscentfc concepts

s a bs o ut ey o b ec tv e a f e ature o fthewo rd a s t s n t s e fo ur

conceptspassveyrefectwhat sthere ntheword Theant-

d ua s t o p po s es thep cture o fmnd a nd wo rd mp ct nb o th

v ews But t s d ffcut t o exp r es s o pp os t o nto e therv ers o no f

theduasm wthoutsoundngas fwe aresmpy embracngthe

o ther fwer e e c t thefr s tver s o nb y s a y ng tha t thewo rd r e a y

doeshavethestructureourscent fc conceptsdscernthatthat

structures notamereartfactofourway ofseengthngs tsounds

a s f we a r e end or s ng the se cond fo rmo fthed ua s m fwer e e c t

thesecondversonby sayngthatthestructureourscentf c

conceptsdscerns notanabsouteyobectve featureofthe word

wesoundas fwe areendorsngthe frstformofthedua sm

Butthe a nt - dua s t ns s ts tha t ther e s a thrd p os t o na v a a b e

Thed ua s mo fs chemea nd word s unnt e g b e wemustr e e c t

bothversons Sowemustreect thedeathatoursc entfc concepts

mmedateyrefecttheabsouteyobect vestructureofrea tyBut

ha v ng do ne s o there s a qut euno b e ct o na b e s ens enwhchwe

cansaythatthestructurewed scernw thourscentf cconcepts s

ndeedanobectvefeatureoftheword thatthewordwoud have

hadthatstructureevenf therehadneverbeenanyconcept-users

a nd so o n And wec a na d d the s tr ucturewed s c e rnwtho ur

non-scentfc conceptss equay anobectvefeatureofword

Theduastwantedtogetbeyondthoseordnaryca msand nvest

22Wttgensten1958 p230

23W ttgensten 1958secton308




11/20

6 2WLLAMCHLD

hs s ma r - s ound ng c ams wtha s p e c a meta p hy s c a s ense But

fthed ua s t s c ams a r eno t ev en nt e g b e wene ed no t n

r e e c tng thed ua s m d eny a nythng Sm a r o bs e rv at o ns a pp y

toWttgenstenscommentsaboutfoow ngaru e Theres an

unobectonabesensen whch t sperfectycorrecttosay for

examp etha t s omeo newho fo ows a rue s o b e ctv ey g o ng o n

nthesameway orthatthethngswe casstogetherare obectvey

sm artooneanotherWhat Wttgenstenobectsto snotthose

sortsofc amsthemsevesbut apatonstc msconstrua ofthem

V

Therearetwowaysofthnkngof theduasm ofschemeand

exper ence Ontheo neha nd there s thed e a o f a d ua s mo f

organzng schemeandneutra oruncategorzedexperence that

s a n d e awhchs na tura whenwethnko fthe co nt ent a s

somethng keHumes mpressonsanddeas sensedata

unnterpretedsensaton thesensuousgven 24Ontheotherhand

theres thedeaof adua smofschemeandword-ndependent

experencethecontentconsstsofexperenceswhchconsttutea

sourceofevdencewhosecharactercanbewhoy specfedw th-

o utr eference t owha t t s ev d encefo r 2 5whch nhab t a s e f -

contanedsubectveream nwh chthngsareas theyare

ndependentyof externa reaty fany 26Thetwowaysof

thnkngof scheme-experenceduasm arenotmutuay excusve

thesensorygven forexampe woudp ausbybe boththeory-

neutraandword-ndependentBut tseemsthatwecoud haveone

formofthedua smwthouttheother Qunes patternsofsensory

stmuaton forexampeare word-ndependentw thoutbeng

neutra orunstructured27

Nowcorrespondngtothe twoformsofscheme-experence

dua sm therearetwosortsofant-dua stargumentan argument

aganstthedeathatbe efsareformedbynterpretngor organz ng

somethngneutra andanargumentaganstthe deathatbeefs

2 4 Da v d s on 1 9 89 a p 1 6 0

2 5 b d p 1 62

2 6M cDowe 1 9 86 b p 1 5 1

27SeeDavdson 1989ap162




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resutfromorganzngorconceptua zngsomethngword-

ndependent Wegetanargumentofthefrstsort fwe appytoths

casethegenera ca mthatwecan makenosenseofthe deaofa

schemesorganzngsomethngunnterpretedandtheory-neutra28

sha concentratehereonargumentsofthe secondsortwh chare

pan ythefocusofDavdsonsrnorerecentdscussonsofscheme-

experencedua sm

Thepontof Davdsonsoppostonto theduasm ofschemeand

experence andthestrategyheadoptsagan strkemeas thoroughy

Wttgensten an-anechoofW ttgenstensoppostonto the

tr ad to na p h o s op hc a co ncep tono fthemnd a s nner a nd

behavouras outerH sdscussonhastwostrandsa descrpton

ofthephenomenawh chams toshowthattheconceptonof the

menta mpc t nthedua smthoroughym srepresentsts actua

characteranda demonstratonthat fwe ddaccept t therewoud

beunsustanabe consequencesforepstemoogyandsemantcs

w us tr a te tha t s tr a teg y for the c a se o fthe exte rna wo rd ther e

aresymmetrca consderatonsconcernngotherm nds

Theduasm ofschemeandword-ndependentexperencehas

anepstemoogca andasemantcaspectTheres theepstemo-

ogca doctrnethata ourbeefs abouttheword arebasedon

evdenceaffordedbyword-ndependentexperence Andtheres

thesemantcdoctrnethatthecontentsofourutterancesandbe efs

arefxedu tmateybythe rreat onstoword-ndependent

experencesThe ant-duastsf rstca m sthatthosedoctrnesare

s mp y fa s e t s no t true Da v ds o nc ams tha tweus tfy o ur

ordnaryemprca beefs byappeatomorebascbe efsabout

sense-dataorsensorystmu aton Ofcoursemybe efthata sF

may beb a s ed o np er cep ton a nd c a nus tfy s ucha b e ef b y

s ay ng s awtha t a s F But tha td o es no tmp y tha t theb e ef

that a s F s us tfed b y a no therb e ef a b out thenature o f a p ur ey

s ub e c tve exp er ence Sm a ry the s emant cd o c trne mp ct n

scheme-experenceduasm sfas fedoncewe attendto obvous

factsaboutanguageearnngandto factsabouthowwe nterpret

wo rd s a nd a ngua ge s wthwhchwe a r eunfam a r2 9

28ForsuchanargumentseeDavdson1974 p192

29Davdson 1989a p164




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6 4WLLAMCHLD

n thesmpestand mostbasccaseswordsandsentencesderve

thermeanngfromtheobectsandc rcumstances nwh chthey

wereearnedA sentencewhchone hasbeencondtonedbythe

earnngprocesstobecausedtohod truebythepresenceoff res

w b e truewhenther e s a fr ep r es ent awo rd oneha s b een

condtonedtobecausedtohod appcabe bythepresenceof

snakesw refertosnakes30

Andwhatgoesforwordsandsentencesasogoesforthebe efs

oneexpressesbyus ngthem3 nsum thecontentsofsentences

andbeefs arefxednotby therreat onstosomethngword-

ndependent-whethersense-data patternsof sensorystmu aton

oranythngese-butbysubectsreat onstoenvronmenta thngs

andknds

Butsupposeweacceptedaduasm ofschemeandexperence

Thesecondstrandoftheant-dua stcases thatthatwoudmake

t mp os s b e t o ha v eknowed geo f o r to thnko r t a ka b out the

wo rd fa o ur ev dencewer eword - nd ep end ent t co ud no t

ustfybe efsabouttheword twas ndependentof

fthebasc beefs dd notexceedn contentthecorrespondng

subectve sensatonthey coudnot supportanynferencetoan

obectveword32

Andsm arconsderatonsappyto semantcs

ftheu tmateevdenceforourschemesandtheores theraw

ma t er a o nwhchthey a r eb as ed s s ub ec tv e thens o s

what ever s d r e c ty b as ed o nt o urb e ef s d e s r e s nt ento ns a nd

whatwemeanbyour words33

Nownoteveryonesharesths pessmsmabouttheconsequences

ofscheme-experencedua smOne thought sthatwecoud ustfy

beefsaboutthewordbeyondexperencebyannferencetothe

bestexpanaton orbyconstructngsomeothersortoftheory But

theant-duasts semantc pontbocksthatthought fthebass for

o urb e ef s s who y wo rd - ndep end ent thenwe a r enot na


31SeeforexampeDavdson 1983pp 317-8

32Davdson1983 p310





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postontoformuatethetheoryaboutawordbeyondexperence

wh chtheevdencewoud besupposedtosupport34

Asecondcommonsuggeston whchtr estomeetths pont s

thatanappeato causatoncan showhowexperenceconcevedon

thedua stsmodecou dgroundthoughtsabouttheexternaword

Howwoud the a p pe a t o c a us at o ng o ?Onep r o po s a s ths f

word-ndependentexperencesofag ventypearereguarycaused

b y word y thng s o f a g v ens o r tFs s ay thentho se exp er ences

w b e exper ence s a s o fFs s o b y a pp e a t o f a ct s a bo ut ther c a us a

reatons wecanshowhowan experenceofthattypecancountas

a nexper ence a s o f a nF But tha t s e ems wrong t s v ery p a us b e

thatexperenceswhose ntrnsc mentacharacters word-

ndependentcannotacqurecontentsconcernngthe wordmerey

byvrtueofthe factthattheystand ncausa reatonsw ththngs

ntheword howevercompexa causa reatonwe nvoke

Co ns d er ths a na o gy Sup p os e ha ve exp er ences nwhch t o o ks

tomeas fpeopehavespotsofacertan knd Thosespotsand

hencetheexperences arere abycausedbymeasesBut thefact

thatsuchacausare atonobtanscannotbytsef brngtheconcept

ofmeases ntoaspecfcaton ofthecontentofmyexperence t

d oe s no tmea nthat wher e ha ve s ucha nexper ence t o o ks t ome

as fsomeonehasmeases Ofcourse fsomeoneknowsofthe

causareaton betweenmeasesandspotsofths knd shemay

haveexperenceswhch woudbeaccurateyreportedbysayng

t o o ks t o Sa s f tha tp er so nha s mea s e s But tha t c as e cr uc a y

dependsonthefactthatthesubecta readyhastheconceptof

meases t snotthemerefactthatexperencesofths typeare

reguarycausedbypeopewth measesthatmakesanexperence

ofthattypeanexperenceasofsomeonew thmeases

A d fferentway o fa p pe a ng to c a usa t o ns ths Weca nuse

ourconceptofcausatontoth nkofth ngsn theexterna wordas

thecausesofourexperences But fwe arestartngfromwhoy

word-ndependentresources theresa reaquestonhow wecoud

somuchaspossessa conceptofcausatonasa reatonho dng

betweenourexperencesandthewordbeyondSucha concept

3 4 Se eM cDowe 1 9 82 p 4 7 7




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6 6WLLAMCHLD

seemstobepartofwhatwe osen confnngourseves atthe

startngpont toword-ndependentresources

Thereadermaywanttoprotestthatwhat haveustsad s

ncompatbe wth myownre anceoncausatonn anaccountof

contenta re ancewhchcameout nthequotatonsfromDavdson

a b ov e But ther e s nfa c tno ncomp atb ty fo rn the a nt - d ua s t

account whch amadvocatng andtheduast account whch

amre e ctng c a us at o nfg ur es nqut ed ffer entways nthe

duasts account anexperences concevednword- ndependent

terms ts ntrnscmenta charactercanbespecfedw thout

referencetoanyth ngsorknds ntheword beyondexperence

Causaton sthen ntroducedtoshowhowexperences thuscon-

c ev ed a r e t ed t o ther es t o ftheword My cam s tha t o nce the

ntrnsc mentanatureofanexperences a owedtobeword-

ndependent noamountofextrnsccausa reatednesstotheword

canremedythedefectandbrng conceptsofwordy thngs ntoan

accountofthe contentofexperenceAccordngtotheant-dua st

poston mentonedabove bycontrast causaton snota reaton

betweenaword- ndependentexperenceandsomethng nthe

wordbeyondThemostbasc ntrnsc mentacharacterzatonof

a nexper ence s a r e a dy wo rd - nvo v ng a nd wha tmake s t nt e -

gb ethatsubectscanhaveexperencesw thcontentsaboutthe

word sthatsubectscausay nteractwth theword Butthose

c a us a nt er a ct o ns a re a r e a dy mp ct nthemo stb a s cment a

characterzatonofan experence bycontrastwth theduasts

account theres no eveat whchwe canempoytheconceptof

experence ofhowthngsarefor asubect butatwhch causa

reatonsbetweensubectandwordarenota ready nthep cture

Nowthecaseaganstscheme-experenceduasm kethecase

aganstscheme-wordduasm restsonvewsw thnthe theoryof

contentThfecentra dean thscase sthatoncetheex stenceof

experences sa owedtobeword-ndependentas theduast

ns s ts t s no tnt e g b ehowthe co nt ento ftho se exp er ences

coudbeanythngotherthanword-ndependenttooTheunder-

y ng p rncp ewhchs up po r ts tha td e a s ths nthe s mp e s t a nd

mostbasccasesthecontentofan ntentonastates partay

determnedbytheactuacharacteroftheth ngswhchnormay

ca us e s t at e s o ftha t ty pe Nowtha tp rncp e a p p e s d r e c ty o ny n

themostbasccases n essbasccasessomeonemghthavethe




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conceptofan Fbyhavng aprm tvetheorywhchspecf eswhat

t stobe anF nothertermsThe ssuebetweenthescheme-

experencedua standtheant-dua st showfarth sprocedurecan

gowheredowe reachapontat whchthe dataaresompovershed

thatnotheoryconstructbe onthebassof thosedatacoudg ve

someonetheconceptofan F?Thecoreofthe ant-duastargument

sthethoughtthat fwe startedfromthoughtsaboutthngswhch

woudbeas theyarehoweverthngswere ntheword beyond we

coudnotformconceptsofth ngsexstngoutsdethe mnd That

cam restsonpartcuar anddsputabev ewsaboutcontentAnd

thnk ths s a s e cond p o nt a twhchther e s a a cuna n Da v ds ons

argumenthe hasvery tteto sayaboutwhytheant -duastscore

cam mustbeaccepted-whywecoud notputtogetheraconcept

ofan ndependenty-exstngmatera obectsay frompurey

word-ndependentresources thnkresourcestof ths acuna

areavaabe 35butasfaras cansee Davdsondoesnotsuppy

them

V

Arescheme-wordduasm andscheme-experenceduasm two

quted fferentdua sms?Oraretheyrather twodfferentsdesof

the s ameco n two a sp e ct s o f a s ng ep h o s op hc a p c tur e?

Thedea thatthetwoduasmsare dfferentaspectsofas nge

p cture o fther e a t o no fmnd a nd word g o e s a s fo ows Ther e s

a d ua s mo fmnd a nd wo rd o no ne s d e s thewo rd whchha s

an ntrnscstructureor s ntrnsca yunstructuredabsoutey

nd ep end ento fus o ntheo ther s d e s themnd whchha s t s

thoughtsandconceptscompetey ndependentofanythng nthe

wordbeyondThereamsarere atedn twoways nhabtantsof

thementa r e amb e ef s a r e t r ue nv r tue o fhowthngs a r en the

otherream theword andnhabtantsofthetworeams maybe

causayre atedtooneanother Thegenera pcturecoudbe

undermnedbyshownge thersdeofthe dchotomytobe

ncoherentwem ghtshowthatthedeaof aword-ndependent

mndwas ncoherentorwe mghtshowthatthe deaofaneutra

35See forexampe Evans 1980




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6 8WLLAMCHLD

wo rd o r a n ntrns c a y s tructur ed word wa s ncoherent e ther

waythe overa pctureco apses

Thatpctureofthereat onbetweenthetwoduasms ssup-

portedbythefo owngthoughtToacceptscheme-experence

duasm stoth nkofthem ndasconstructnga conceptuascheme

fromword-ndependentresources fwe accepttheconcus onsof

theprevoussectonthebe efsandtheoreswhchresut fromthat

constructonmustbeassubectveandword-ndependentasthe

dataonwhch theyarebased Whatconceptoncanwe havethen

oftheword yngbeyondthoughtandexperence?Wecancon-

c ev e o fthewo rd a tb e st a s a s omethngweknowno twha twe

ha ve theb a re d e a o fr ea ty o fwhchno thngmor e c a nb e s a d

Andthatseemstobe theneutra unstructuredword ofscheme-

wo rd d ua s m

The s ug g es t o n neffec t s tha tfo ne a c c ep t s thed ua s mo f

schemeandexperenceonecannotavodthedua smofscheme

andword Ontheotherhand t snotobvousthatsomeonewho

acceptstheduasm ofschemeandword stherebycommttedto

theduasm ofschemeandexperence Consderthevewthatthe

wo rd has a na b so ut ey o b e c tve ntrns c s tr ucturewhch s

drectyrefectedbyoursc entfc conceptsThat sconsstentwth

reectngthedua smofschemeandexperenceforourscentf c

conceptsat eastbeng dctatedbytheword woudbethoroughy

word-nvovng Oragan consderaversonofscheme-word

dua s ma ccord ng towhchtheword a s t s n t s e f s c a us e e ss

causa ty ssmp yanartfactof thewaywerepresenttheword

Someonemghtho dthatvew wh stacceptngthatthespecfc

conceptsweformareword-nvovng theconceptsweform for

exampeappy tothethngsandk ndsonEarththeconceptsTwn

Earthansformappyto theTwn EarthanaoguesAgan onthe

faceof t thatgvesusa wayofacceptngscheme-word duasm

wthoutacceptngscheme-experenceduasm

Thecaseagansteachduasm havestressed restsu tmatey

o na c a m nthe theo ry o fcont entA g a ns t o nev er s o no f

s cheme-word d ua s m the c amwa s ths

A Weca nformno co ncepto fthewo rd whchwo ud a owus t o

makesenseof thedeathatourthoughtsnvovesomed storton

oftheword




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Andaganstscheme-experenceduasmtherewasth s

B fthecontentofourthoughtsweredetermnedu tmatey by

referencetosomethngword-ndependent wecoud formno

conceptoftheword beyondexperence

One wayofaskngaboutthereaton betweenscheme-word

duasm andscheme-experenceduasm stoaskaboutthereat on

betweenthesetwoca msaboutcontent

T he re s a s m p e v e w w h c h s t h n k D av d so n s w h c h

brngsthesetwocams together nf xng thecontentsofour

thoughtsandexperencescertanbasc casespayakeyro e The

basccasesareonesn whchs mpepropertesandkndsare

manfesty nstantated Conceptsofthosepropertesandk nds

fgured recty nthecharacterzatonof ourmostbascthoughts

andexperences otherconceptsmustbeconstructedfromthose

r es our ce s fwe a c c ep t thatv ew wew thnkthefo owng

Concernng A fourconceptsofthewordareconstructedfrom

conceptsofpropertesandkndswhch aremanfesty nstantated

wecannotmakesenseofthethoughtthattheword tsefdoesnot

r e a y ha v e s uchp r op ert e s A nd co ncernng B ftheb a s c

propertesandkndswereent reyword-ndependent phenomena

coourandshape perhaps ourpossessngconceptsofthemcoud

no tp utus na p o s t o nto fo rmconcep t s ofthng s a nd knds nthe

wordbeyondexperence

Sotheres anaccountofourconcept-formngresourceswhch

wo ud v a d a teb o thA a nd B ButA a nd B a r enoto b v o us y

nextr c a b efo r o nthef ac e o ft s omeonemght a c cep tB b ut

reect A Suchapersonwoudthnk thatwehaveconcept-formng

resourcesadequatetoformageneraconceptofthewordwh ch

a owsustomakesenseofthethoughtthatthewordrea yhasa

structureverydfferentfromthestructurewe representt ashavng

Buttheywoudacceptthattheres nowayofgettngfromex-

perenceswhosecontentsdonot nvoveconceptsofendurng

mnd-ndependentthngsandkndsto thoughtsaboutan obectve

wo rd d o not s a y that ths s utma t ey a co her entp o s t o nBut

weneedmoreargument fwe aretobeconvncedthatt snot

Theupshot sths Theredoesseemtobea coseassocaton

betweenscheme-wordduasm andscheme-experenceduasm

ther e s a p h o so p hc a v ewo fther e a t o no fmnd a nd word




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7 0WLLAMCHLD

whchnv o v e s b othd ua s ms a nd ther e s a s mp ev ewo fco nt ent

whchsupportsthetwokeyant-dua stca msaboutcontent

Butthedua smsdonotseemtobe nseparabeand tounderne

that the two a nt - dua s t c ams a b out co nt ent a r e o nthef a c e o ft

dfferentcams Evenf acceptanceofscheme-experencedua sm

mpes acceptanceof scheme-wordduasm t snotc earthat

scheme-wordduasm requresscheme-experenceduasm

Perhapst coudbeshownthatthedua smsaren factnseparabe

Butasfaras cansee nothngthatDavdsonhasyetsadhasshown

whytheymustbe36

UnverstyCo ege

Oxford

OX 4BH

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Ev ans G 1 9 80 Thng s Wtho ut theMnd nPh o so p hc a Sub e ct s Es s ay s

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M cDowe J 1 9 82 Cr t e r a Defea s b ty a nd Knowedg e Pr oc e ed ng s o fthe

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Berna rd W ams Mnd 9 5 p p 3 7 7- 8 6

M cDowe J 1 9 86 b Sng ua rThoug ht a nd theExt ento f nner Sp a ce n

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deta edcommentsona prevousdraft




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Wttgensten L 1961TractatusLogco-PhosophcustransatedbyD F Pears

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Child - On the Dualism of Scheme and Content

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