Can Our Understanding of Old Texts be Objective?

Abstract

Some people today would deny the possibility of achieving an objective understanding of a contemporary text, and then argue that there is even less chance of achieving such an understanding of a text from the past. Such wholesale skepticism needs to be rejected, I shall argue, as quite often objective understanding of historical texts is possible. By an objective understanding of a text I mean both one which is rationally justifiable and one which would generally be accepted as correct. Sometimes there is no rational way of choosing between two or more alternative interpretations, but this is by no means always the case. First let me explain my use of a few key terms. We understand a text when we can say what it means. I have no comprehensive theory of meaning to defend here, but will generally assume that the meaning of sentences includes their illocutionary force together with the conditions which make them or correct. There are often several different ways of expressing one's understanding of the meaning of a sentence or text. Any statement by a person of his or her understanding of its meaning is what I call his or her interpretation of its meaning. If there are several ways of understanding the meaning of a text, then each of those ways of understanding it is an interpretation of its meaning as well. So an interpretation of a text can be either one of several different ways of understanding a text, and/or one of several different ways of expressing one's understanding of a text. Generally, however, when I refer to an interpretation of a text I refer to a statement of its meaning. It is my belief that there are conventionally accepted criteria by which an interpretation of a text can be justified as correct. Those who are skeptical about the objectivity of understanding sometimes ignore the existence of these criteria, focussing upon the subjective determinants of an interpretation alone. But a glance at any debate over the correct interpretation of a text soon reveals both the presence and the importance of these criteria. Examples of them will be given below. If an interpretation satisfies the relevant criteria, it is not only justified but also correct. I prefer to use the word true just of statements which correspond to some reality. Interpretations of the meaning of a text are generally not in this sense. They do not necessarily correspond to any particular