Principle of charity
Etymology
The phrase is associated with Neil Wilson (1959) and was developed by W.V.O. Quine and Donald Davidson. "Charity" comes from Latin "caritas" (regard, love); here it means granting a speaker enough rationality for their words to make sense.
noun phrase · /PRIN-suh-pul uv CHAR-ih-tee/
The interpretive rule that you should read others’ statements in their most rational and coherent light before criticizing them.
What it names
A handle for a discipline of interpretation — reach for it to remind yourself to fix on the best reading of a claim rather than pouncing on a clumsy phrasing.
Example
Applying the principle of charity, she assumed the student meant the defensible point, not the absurd one his wording suggested.
Related idea
It underwrites the steelman: charity is the general interpretive stance, while steelmanning is the active practice of building the strongest version of the resulting argument.
See also