Abstract
Some important philosophical issues to do with truth, meaning and translation are raised if we attempt to take the language of business seriously. There may be difficulties associated with trying to make sense of what this would amount to, but a preliminary exploration of the territory provides interesting perspectives on business ethics and on the philosophy of language. When we decide that we know what another speaker is saying, we are simultaneously making decisions about the way the world is, the structure of the speaker's language and the speaker's veracity. Since there is an irreducible ethical dimension to translation, a decision to `translate' business language as ethical, but simply having different truth values, is not going to be `right' or `wrong' except in the context of an ethical stance taken by the translator. In other words, it is no different from a decision to adjust one's ethical position into conformity with the values apparently embedded in business practice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 205-221 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Organization |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2003 |
Keywords
- business ethics
- philosophy of language
- translation
- utility
Cite this
A Utility Theory Of Truth. / Arthur, Alexander James.
In: Organization, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2003, p. 205-221.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A Utility Theory Of Truth
AU - Arthur, Alexander James
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - Some important philosophical issues to do with truth, meaning and translation are raised if we attempt to take the language of business seriously. There may be difficulties associated with trying to make sense of what this would amount to, but a preliminary exploration of the territory provides interesting perspectives on business ethics and on the philosophy of language. When we decide that we know what another speaker is saying, we are simultaneously making decisions about the way the world is, the structure of the speaker's language and the speaker's veracity. Since there is an irreducible ethical dimension to translation, a decision to `translate' business language as ethical, but simply having different truth values, is not going to be `right' or `wrong' except in the context of an ethical stance taken by the translator. In other words, it is no different from a decision to adjust one's ethical position into conformity with the values apparently embedded in business practice.
AB - Some important philosophical issues to do with truth, meaning and translation are raised if we attempt to take the language of business seriously. There may be difficulties associated with trying to make sense of what this would amount to, but a preliminary exploration of the territory provides interesting perspectives on business ethics and on the philosophy of language. When we decide that we know what another speaker is saying, we are simultaneously making decisions about the way the world is, the structure of the speaker's language and the speaker's veracity. Since there is an irreducible ethical dimension to translation, a decision to `translate' business language as ethical, but simply having different truth values, is not going to be `right' or `wrong' except in the context of an ethical stance taken by the translator. In other words, it is no different from a decision to adjust one's ethical position into conformity with the values apparently embedded in business practice.
KW - business ethics
KW - philosophy of language
KW - translation
KW - utility
U2 - 10.1177/1350508403010002002
DO - 10.1177/1350508403010002002
M3 - Article
VL - 10
SP - 205
EP - 221
JO - Organization
JF - Organization
SN - 1350-5084
IS - 2
ER -