Meaning is determined by behavior and context, preventing universal translation.

Evidence

Quine’s thesis is that there are no culturally universal meanings or propositions. This suggests that the ontological-epistemological status of meanings cannot be explored or analyzed outside of the context in which human beings speak or act. Consequently, behaviour is the determinant of meaning within a language. It is therefore not possible to unequivocally translate and compare theoretical concepts between radically different languages. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 569

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• DEFINE: Summarizes Quine’s indeterminacy of radical translation as it applies to ethnophilosophy.

Related

• Quine’s radical translation thesis makes cross-cultural concept comparison impossible (similarity 0.95)
• Behavior determines meaning, blocking radical language translation (similarity 0.91)
• Quine’s indeterminacy thesis allows limited but real intercultural philosophical knowledge (similarity 0.83)