If content-determination is already achieved by externalist causal chains, introducing triangulation adds no additional epistemic or semantic work, making it structurally redundant.

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Reasons For

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Reason for

1.Externalist causal chains (historical/causal relations) already fix reference by establishing systematic correlations between representations and world.
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2.Triangulation introduces a third relatum (the interpreter) whose role can be entirely explained by first-order causal mechanisms without additional semantic machinery.
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3.If two theories explain the same phenomena with identical predictive power, parsimony favors the simpler one lacking redundant components.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

1.Causal chains alone cannot distinguish between intentionally equivalent representations (e.g., twin-Earth cases require more than causal history).
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2.Triangulation adds distinctly different work: it explains how misrepresentation is *normatively* possible by grounding content in three-way relations, not mere causation.
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3.The interpreter's perspective generates standards for correct vs. incorrect application that causal chains alone cannot provide without circularity.
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Key Terms

Epistemic: "Epistemic" relates to knowledge—how we know things, what counts as knowledge, and whether we can trust what we believe to be true. It comes from the Greek word for knowledge and is used to describe questions about the reliability and validity of our beliefs and understanding. For example, "epistemic humility" means acknowledging the limits of what you can actually know for certain.
Externalist causal chains(in philosophy of language): The idea that the meaning of a word or thought depends on its history of causes outside the mind—like how the word 'water' gets its meaning from actually being caused by interactions with H2O molecules in the world.
Structurally redundant(in logical analysis): When something is unnecessary because another part of the system already does the same job—like having two identical parts where one would work fine.
content-determination(as the criterion used by Nyāya philosophy): A way of figuring out what makes one thing different from another by looking at what information or qualities they contain. In this context, it's about what distinguishes different causes of knowledge.
semantic(describing the level of word meaning): Relating to the meaning of words and sentences.
triangulation(Davidson's transcendental argument for the existence of other minds and the external world): Davidson's concept of a three-way causal interaction between two subjects and a shared object or stimulus, held to be necessary for determinate thought and meaning

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Philosophy of Language1 linked Skepticism1 linked

Causal chains alone cannot distinguish between intentionally equivalent represen...Davidson's triangulation argument is redundant if semantic externalism is invoke...

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 2 (1 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit