Drawing on classroom experiences, the author suggests that philosopher Donald Davidson's interpretive principle of charity can help explain why communication is impoverished or even impossible in classrooms governed by traditional, authoritarian practices that form a “pedagogy of severity.” If the classroom is to be a place of dialogue, learning, and mutual transformation, teachers should promote a “pedagogy of charity,” which assumes that students are rational beings with mostly true and coherent beliefs.

Advocates a position on the margins of English studies. Provides a general introduction to analytic philosophy of language. Elaborates Donald Davidson’s work on interpretation, which demonstrates why truth and rationality are inextricably linked to language and communication. Calls for reconfiguring the debate between and assessment of the disparate methodologies of English studies.