Triangulation Triangulated

The idea of triangulation arises in two contexts in Davidson’s work. In the first, triangulation is used as an analogy to help explain the central idea of a transcendental argument designed to show that we can have the concept of objective truth only in the context of communication. In the second, the triangulation of two speakers responding to each other and to a common cause of similar responses is invoked as a solution to the problem of underdetermination of thought and meaning by the patterns of causal relations we stand in to the environment. With respect to the first use, I argue Davidson’s argument is unsuccessful because communication is not essential for developing the idea contrasting perspectives necessary for the concept of objectivity. With respect to the second, I show that appeal to this sort of triangulation does not help with the problem it is intended to solve.