Meaning of Skinner's maxim | Babel Free

Definitions

The principle that any historical account of what someone meant by a certain action or statement must in some measure conform to that person’s own understanding of what they were saying or doing.

Examples

“When we respect⟳ Skinner’s maxim we shall give⟳ an account of the dead thinker ‘in his own⟳ terms’, ignoring the fact that we should think⟳ ill of anyone who still used those terms today. When we ignore⟳ Skinner’s maxim, we give⟳ an account ‘in our own⟳ terms’, ignoring the fact that the dead thinker, in his linguistic habits as he lived, would have⟳ repudiated these terms as foregn to his interests and intentions.”

“Historical reconstruction obeys Skinner’s Maxim: no agent can eventually be said to have⟳ said or meant something which he could never be brought to accept⟳ as a correct⟳ description of what he said or meant.”

“Historical reconstructions will follow⟳ ‘Skinner’s maxim’, and will constrain themselves to offering only descriptions that the writer in question⟳ could in principle endorse.”

CEFR level