Posted by alexandra_k on March 26, 2005, at 17:47:32
In reply to Re: The Principle of Charity » alexandra_k, posted by Shortelise on March 26, 2005, at 16:52:51
Hmm. I have been thinking about what I said... That might be a bit of an extension of the 'principle of charity' as written.
It is supposed to be a principle that applies to the 'interpretation' or 'translation' of arguments. You see, sometimes you need to 'reconstruct' arguments so as to make their structure clear. You have to do this so it is easier to evaluate them. You have to put in implicit premises etc.
Here is an example (in case someone is interested). It is just an example of an argument - not meaning to start controversy...
Abortion is deliberately killing an innocent human being, so obviously it’s morally wrong.
This argument has an implicit (unstated premiss). Something like “Killing innocent human beings is morally wrong.” or “All killing is morally wrong” or “Killing humans is always morally wrong,” but the latter ones are less plausible. The principle of charity dictates that when faced with an incomplete argument, you should complete it charitably: add the premise which makes the resulting argument as strong as possible. Why be so nice? Well, if you’re having a dispute with someone and you attack a version of their argument which isn’t as strong as it could be, your opponent can deflect your criticisms by saying that you’ve misconstrued their argument, whereas if you attach the strongest possible version of their argument, your opponent will have to actually engage with your criticisms.
So the thought is that we should apply the principle of charity in argument reconstruction. It is aka 'don't attribute stupid beliefs to smart people'. It also saves time with respect to critiquing the argument.
The principle of charity also comes up in the context of attrubuting beliefs to peoples. We try to attribute beliefs that are true. If in doubt: be nice.
But I think it applies here too....
Hmm.
Wanna write a thesis anyone???
poster:alexandra_k
thread:475504
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20050323/msgs/475928.html