Document Type : Research Paper

Author

• David Vessey

Abstract

Principles of Charity have become central features of any plausible theory of interpretation. The trick has been to explain how the truth of the text to appear without abandoning one’s critical resources in the process. I argue that Gadamer’s discussion of “the logic of question and answer,” when applied to textual interpretation, functions as a principle of charity provides the right balance between being too liberal and being too critical.

Keywords

• Hans-Georg Gadamer
• Principle of charity
• interpretation
• rationality
• David Vessey
• Donald Davidson