The Possibility or Impossibility of linguistic Incommensurability in Comparative Studies

Ahmadizade, Hasan

doi:10.22059/jop.2025.389819.1006884

The Possibility or Impossibility of linguistic Incommensurability in Comparative Studies

Document Type : Scientific-research

Author

Hasan Ahmadizade

Associate Professor and Faculty Member of the Department of Religions & Philosophy, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran.

10.22059/jop.2025.389819.1006884

Abstract

Comparative studies scholars believe that the most difficult challenge facing researchers in this field, first and foremost, is the possibility or impossibility of comparability between different traditions, cultures, and schools of thought. This difficulty manifests itself most notably in the field of comparative research in philosophy and theology. Philosophers engaged in comparative explorations of texts and cultures of ancient philosophical traditions have found themselves confronted with a plethora of terms and vocabulary for which finding equivalents has been very difficult. In this essay, with reference to three types of incommensurability—fundamental, evaluative, and linguistic—we will address two general approaches regarding the possibility or impossibility of linguistic incommensurability. On the one hand, we will refer to the view of those like Davidson, who, in contrast to those like MacIntyre, defend the commensurability and reject the incommensurability between different traditions and cultures. On the other hand, we will critique and evaluate these two general approaches. In the issue of linguistic incommensurability, the emphasis is on whether it is still possible to compare cultures, traditions, and schools of thought arising from them, given the different terms, language, and contexts in which they are formed in different cultures.

Keywords

Matching

comparison

linguistics

Davidson

MacIntyre

Subjects

philosophy

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