Abstract
In “On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme”, Davidson urges that the dualism of scheme and content is the third dogma of empiricism, and if we give it up, it is not clear that there is anything distinctive left to call empiricism. Two issues are dealt with in this thesis: (Q1) Is the dualism is a dogma that we have to abandon? (Q2) If we do abandon this dualism, do we have to give up empiricism at the same time? I shall argue that the answer of (Q1) is affirmative and the one of (Q2) is negative. I think McDowell’s theory could be an example of empiricism without the third dogma. Davidson’s criticism of the dualism of scheme and content makes philosophers reconsider the problems in epistemology on a new base without the dualism.