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Willard Van Orman Quine

Willard Van Orman Quine
Full name Willard Van Orman Quine
Born June 25, 1908(1908-06-25)
Died December 25, 2000 (aged 92)
Era 20th-century philosophy
Region Western Philosophy
School Analytic
Main interests .Logic, Ontology, Epistemology, Philosophy of language, Philosophy of mathematics, Philosophy of science, Set theory.^ Higher order logic and set theory.

 ^ Philosophical logic · Philosophy of language · Philosophy of science · Ordinary language philosophy · .

 ^ Logic , Ontology , Epistemology , Philosophy of language , Philosophy of mathematics , Philosophy of science , Set theory .
Notable ideas .Indeterminacy of translation, Inscrutability of reference, Naturalized epistemology, Ontological relativity, Quine's paradox, Radical translation, Confirmation holism, Quine–McCluskey algorithm.^ Confirmation holism and ontological relativity .

 ^ Indeterminacy of translation , Inscrutability of reference , Ontological relativity , Quine's paradox , Radical translation , Confirmation holism , Quine-McCluskey algorithm , Philosophical naturalism .

 ^ The central theses underlying the indeterminacy of translation and other extensions of Quine's work are ontological relativity and the related doctrine of confirmation holism .
.Willard Van Orman Quine (June 25, 1908 – December 25, 2000) (known to intimates as "Van") was an American philosopher and logician in the analytic tradition.^ Phil416/quine.html"> Willard Van Orman Quine Videos.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Home page for Willard Van Orman Quine, mathematician and philosopher, by Douglas Boynton Quine.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Willard Van Orman Quine link archive .
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 .From 1930 until his death 70 years later, Quine was continuously affiliated with Harvard University in one way or another, first as a student, then as a professor of philosophy and a teacher of mathematics, and finally as a professor emeritus who published or revised several books in retirement.^ (Great Ideas of Philosophy) Harvard University's Frances Kamm, Rutgers University's Larry Temkin, and Richard Sorabji, emeritus professor of philosophy at King's College, London, describe the three major categories of ethics: metaethics, applied ethics, and normative ethics.
  • Philosophy: Videotapes in the Media Resources, UC Berkeley 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.lib.berkeley.edu [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Professor Burton Dreben taught at Harvard University from 1956 to 1990, and was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy from 1981 to 1990 (he is now Pierce Professor Emeritus).
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 ^ Professor Dagfinn Føllesdal studied mathematics, astronomy and mechanics at the University of Oslo and mathematics at the University of Gottingen and worked for two years in ionospheric physics before starting his studies for a Ph.D. at Harvard.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 .He filled the Edgar Pierce Chair of Philosophy at Harvard, 1956–78. A recent poll conducted by philosophers named Quine as one of the five most important philosophers of the past two centuries.^ Quine is one of the most influential of.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Here is one classic "http://www.jcu.edu/philosophy/gensler/ap/quine-00.htm" Willard Van Orman Quine is sometimes claimed to be the most influential living American philosopher.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ This program looks at the man, at the roots of his philosophy, at the causes and explanations of his philosophical development, and at its most direct outcome: the failed Soviet Union.
  • Philosophy: Videotapes in the Media Resources, UC Berkeley 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.lib.berkeley.edu [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 [1]
.Quine falls squarely into the analytic philosophy tradition while also being the main proponent of the view that philosophy is not conceptual analysis.^ Quine falls squarely into the analytic philosophy tradition while also being the main proponent of the view that philosophy is not conceptual analysis .

 ^ Just as he challenged the dominant analytic-synthetic distinction, Quine also took aim at traditional normative epistemology .

 ^ QUINE email-list is available as well as: adorno aesthetics analytic-philosophy autopoiesis (self-organizing systems) bakhtin bataille baudrillard biology (philosophy of .
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 .His major writings include "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" (1951), which attacked the distinction between analytic and synthetic propositions and advocated a form of semantic holism, and Word and Object (1960), which further developed these positions and introduced the notorious indeterminacy of translation thesis.^ Contains " Two dogmas of Empiricism.

 ^ His major writings include " Two Dogmas of Empiricism " (1951), which attacked the distinction between analytic and synthetic propositions and advocated a form of semantic holism , and Word and Object (1960) which further developed these positions and introduced the notorious indeterminacy of translation thesis.

 ^ Rejection of the analytic-synthetic distinction .

 He also developed an influential naturalized epistemology that tried to provide "an improved scientific explanation of how we have developed elaborate scientific theories on the basis of meager sensory input."[2] He is also important in philosophy of science for his "systematic attempt to understand science from within the resources of science itself."[2] This led to his famous quip that "philosophy of science is philosophy enough."[3]

Contents

Biography

.According to his autobiography, The Time of My Life (1986), Quine grew up in Akron, Ohio.^ According to his autobiography, The Time of My Life (1986), Quine grew up in Akron , Ohio .

 ^ The Time of My Life - An Autobiography .

 .His father was a manufacturing entrepreneur and his mother was a schoolteacher.^ His father was a manufacturing entrepreneur and his mother was a schoolteacher.

 .He received his B.A. in mathematics and philosophy from Oberlin College in 1930 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University in 1932. His thesis supervisor was Alfred North Whitehead.^ His thesis supervisor was Alfred North Whitehead .

 ^ He received his B.A. in mathematics and philosophy from Oberlin College in 1930 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University in 1932.

 ^ From 1930 until his death 70 years later, Quine was continuously affiliated with Harvard University in one way or another, first as a student, then as a professor of philosophy and a teacher of mathematics, and finally as an emeritus elder statesman who published or revised seven books in retirement.

 He was then appointed a Harvard Junior Fellow, which excused him from having to teach for four years. .During the academic year 1932–33, he travelled in Europe thanks to a Sheldon fellowship, meeting Polish logicians (including Alfred Tarski) and members of the Vienna Circle (including Rudolf Carnap).^ Ayer also discusses its founders-- members of the Vienna Circle of the 1920s-- who based their theories on logic and science.
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 ^ Quine wrote:- In 1932 - I already had my PhD and was married to my first wife - I had a traveling fellowship.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.It was through Quine's good offices that Alfred Tarski was invited to attend the September 1939 Unity of Science Congress in Cambridge.^ It was through Quine's good offices that Alfred Tarski was invited to attend the September 1939 Unity of Science Congress in Cambridge.

 ^ To attend that Congress, Tarski sailed for the USA on the last ship to leave Gdańsk before the Third Reich invaded Poland.

 ^ The 1990 Alfred Tarski Lecturer was Willard Van Orman Quine, who spoke on ``Reflections on models and logical truth'' ...
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 To attend that Congress, Tarski sailed for the USA on the last ship to leave Gdańsk before the Third Reich invaded Poland. Tarski survived the war and worked another 44 years in the USA.
.During World War II, Quine lectured on logic in Brazil, in Portuguese, and served in the United States Navy in a military intelligence role, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander.^ During World War II, Quine lectured on logic in Brazil, in Portuguese, and served in the United States Navy in a military intelligence role, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

 ^ Although Quine's criticisms played a major role in the decline of logical positivism, he remained a verificationist , to the point of invoking verificationism to undermine the analytic-synthetic distinction.

 ^ The 1990 Alfred Tarski Lecturer was Willard Van Orman Quine, who spoke on ``Reflections on models and logical truth'' ...
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.At Harvard, Quine helped supervise the Harvard theses of, among others, Donald Davidson, David Lewis, Daniel Dennett, Gilbert Harman, Dagfinn Føllesdal, Hao Wang, Hugues LeBlanc and Henry Hiz.^ Influenced Donald Davidson · Daniel Dennett David Lewis · Scott Soames David Kaplan · Richard Rorty Gila Sher · Patricia Churchland Noam Chomsky · Hilary Putnam Brian Leiter .

 ^ The central theses underlying the indeterminacy of translation and other extensions of Quine's work are ontological relativity and the related doctrine of confirmation holism .

 ^ At Harvard, Quine helped supervise the Harvard theses of, among others, Donald Davidson , David Lewis , Daniel Dennett , Gilbert Harman , Dagfinn Føllesdal , Hao Wang , Hugues LeBlanc and Henry Hiz .

 .For the academic year 1964-1965, Quine was a Fellow on the faculty in the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan University.^ From 1964 until 1965, Quine was a Fellow on the faculty in the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan University .

 ^ Mathematicians/Quine.html"> Willard Van Quine studied at Oberlin College and Harvard University before studying at Prague under Rudolf Carnap.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Born in Ohio, Quine studied at Oberlin College and Harvard University, where he became professor of philosophy in 1936.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 [4]
.Quine had four children by two marriages.^ Quine had four children by two marriages.

 .Guitarist Robert Quine was his nephew.^ The rock and roll guitarist Robert Quine was his nephew.

 ^ Beatles albums: USA Beatles albums: Foreign (this page) Beatles recordings Beatles CDs: USA Beatles CDs: Foreign Beatles FAQ Beatles Guest Books Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5 Book 6 Book 7 Robert Quine - guitarist Too Old To Care .
  • Beatles CD Song List by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.triskelion-ltd.com [Source type: General]

Political beliefs

.Quine was politically conservative, but the bulk of his writing was in technical areas of philosophy removed from direct political issue.^ Quine on Matters Ontological by Roger Gibson I. Introduction: Willard Quine has been writing about ontology for almost as long as he has been writing philosophy -- approximately 65 years.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Quine's writings have led to the wide acceptance of instrumentalism in the philosophy of science .

 [5] He did, however, argue at points for several conservative positions: a defense of moral censorship; an argument in favor of limitations on democratic civil rights; a general defense of the status quo against efforts to remodel society by 'underprivileged groups';[6] an argument against publicly funded education;[7][8]
.Quine, like many philosophers in the Anglo-American "analytic" tradition, was critical of Jaques Derrida; in 1992, Quine led an unsuccessful petition to stop Cambridge University from granting Derrida an honorary degree.^ Although Quine's criticisms played a major role in the decline of logical positivism, he remained a verificationist , to the point of invoking verificationism to undermine the analytic-synthetic distinction.

 ^ Quine's proposal is extremely controversial among contemporary philosophers and has several important critics, with Jaegwon Kim the most prominent among them.

 ^ Quine falls squarely into the analytic philosophy tradition while also being the main proponent of the view that philosophy is not conceptual analysis .

 .According to Derrida, Quine believed that Derrida's work tried to "politicize and democratize the university scene". Quine regarded Derrida's work as pseudo-philosophy or sophistry.^ Quine finds the notion of such a space problematic, arguing that there is no distinction between those truths which are universally and confidently believed and those which are necessarily true.

 ^ Born in Ohio, Quine studied at Oberlin College and Harvard University, where he became professor of philosophy in 1936.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Brown University Thesis in Philosophy - Author: Brockhaus, Richard Roy; Title: The importance of the Duhemian thesis in the philosophyof Willard Van Orman Quine ....
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 [9][10]

Work

.Quine's Ph.D. thesis and early publications were on formal logic and set theory.^ Higher order logic and set theory.

 ^ Quine's Ph.D. thesis and early publications were on formal logic and set theory .

 ^ He modestly said:- I do not do anything with computers, although one of my little results in mathematical logic has become a tool of the computer theory, the Quine McCluskey principle.

 .Only after WWII did he, by virtue of seminal papers on ontology, epistemology and language, emerge as a major philosopher.^ Only after WWII did he, by virtue of seminal papers on ontology , epistemology and language, emerge as a major philosopher.

 ^ But like the logical positivists, he evinced little interest in the philosophical canon: only once did he teach a course in the history of philosophy, on Hume.

 ^ Logic , Ontology , Epistemology , Philosophy of language , Philosophy of mathematics , Philosophy of science , Set theory .

 .By the 1960s, he had worked out his "naturalized epistemology" whose aim was to answer all substantive questions of knowledge and meaning using the methods and tools of the natural sciences.^ By the 1960s, he had worked out his "naturalized epistemology" whose aim was to answer all substantive questions of knowledge and meaning using the methods and tools of the natural sciences.

 ^ One of the surprising things that I discovered in my work on the philosophy of biology is that when it comes to the physical sciences, any new theory is based on a law, on a natural law.
  • Edge: WHAT EVOLUTION IS 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.edge.org [Source type: Original source]

 ^ During Darwin's lifetime, the concept of teleology, or the use of ultimate purpose as a means of explaining natural phenomena, was prevalent.
  • Edge: WHAT EVOLUTION IS 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.edge.org [Source type: Original source]

 .Quine roundly rejected the notion that there should be a "first philosophy", a theoretical standpoint somehow prior to natural science and capable of justifying it.^ Quine roundly rejected the notion that there should be a "first philosophy", a theoretical standpoint somehow prior to natural science and capable of justifying it.

 ^ Quine even rejects Peircean notion of truth, namely truth as "the opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate" (Peirce [1868] 1958, 133).
  • Willard van Orman Quine Guest Book Volume 4 by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.triskelion-ltd.com [Source type: General]

 ^ I cannot admit that there are some things which McX countenances and I do not, for in admitting that there are such things I should be contradicting my own rejection of them.
  • On What There Is - Wikisource 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC en.wikisource.org [Source type: Original source]

 .These views are intrinsic to his naturalism.^ These views are intrinsic to his naturalism .

 ^ Looks at several views on the nature of art, including representationalism, expressionism and formalism, and how these have been affected by changes in artistic styles and techniques.
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.Quine often wrote superbly crafted and witty English prose.^ Quine often wrote superbly crafted and witty English prose.

 .He had a gift for languages and could lecture in French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.^ He had a gift for languages and could lecture in French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.

 .But like the logical positivists, he evinced little interest in the philosophical canon: only once did he teach a course in the history of philosophy, on Hume.^ Originally broadcast in 1987 as a segment of the television program: Great philosophers, a history of western philosophy.
  • Philosophy: Videotapes in the Media Resources, UC Berkeley 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.lib.berkeley.edu [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
Academic Genealogy
Notable teachers Notable students
Rudolf Carnap
Clarence Irving Lewis
Alfred North Whitehead		 Donald Davidson
Daniel Dennett
Dagfinn Føllesdal
Gilbert Harman
David Lewis
Hao Wang
Theodore Kaczynski
Tom Lehrer
Michael Silverstein

Rejection of the analytic-synthetic distinction

See also: Two Dogmas of Empiricism
In the 1930s and 40s, discussions with Rudolf Carnap, Nelson Goodman and Alfred Tarski, among others, led Quine to doubt the tenability of the distinction between "analytic" statements — those true simply by the meanings of their words, such as "All bachelors are unmarried" — and "synthetic" statements, those true or false by virtue of facts about the world, such as "There is a cat on the mat." This distinction was central to logical positivism. .Although Quine's criticisms played a major role in the decline of logical positivism, he remained a verificationist, to the point of invoking verificationism to undermine the analytic-synthetic distinction.^ Although Quine's criticisms played a major role in the decline of logical positivism, he remained a verificationist , to the point of invoking verificationism to undermine the analytic-synthetic distinction.

 ^ Rejection of the analytic-synthetic distinction .

 ^ This distinction was central to logical positivism .

 .As a verificationist, he drew on several sources including his Harvard colleague B.F. Skinner, and particularly on his analysis of language in Verbal Behavior.^ As a verificationist, he drew on several sources including his Harvard colleague B.F. Skinner , and particularly on his analysis of language in Verbal Behavior .

 .Quine was a major editor of the journal Behaviorism.^ Quine was a major editor of the journal Behaviorism .
.Like other analytic philosophers before him, Quine accepted the definition of "analytic" as "true in virtue of meaning alone". Unlike them, however, he concluded that ultimately the definition was circular.^ But Kant's intent, evident more from the use he makes of the notion of analyticity than from his definition of it, can be restated thus: a statement is analytic when it is true by virtue of meanings and independently of fact.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ For an instructive account of the vicissitudes of the verification theory of meaning, centered however on the question of meanin fulness rather than synonymy and analyticity, see Hempel.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The description of analyticity as truth by virtue of meanings started us off in pursuit of a concept of meaning.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .In other words, Quine accepted that analytic statements are those that are true by definition, then argued that the notion of truth by definition was unsatisfactory.^ In other words, Quine accepted that analytic statements are those that are true by definition, then argued that the notion of truth by definition was unsatisfactory.

 ^ Quine's chief objection to analyticity is with the notion of synonymy (sameness of meaning), a sentence being analytic, just in case it substitutes a synonym for one "black" in a proposition like "All black things are black" (or any other logical truth ).

 ^ See also: Two Dogmas of Empiricism In the 1930s and 40s, discussions with Rudolf Carnap , Nelson Goodman and Alfred Tarski , among others, led Quine to doubt the tenability of the distinction between "analytic" statements — those true simply by the meanings of their words, such as "All bachelors are unmarried" — and "synthetic" statements, those true or false by virtue of facts about the world, such as "There is a cat on the mat."
.Quine's chief objection to analyticity is with the notion of synonymy (sameness of meaning), a sentence being analytic, just in case it substitutes a synonym for one "black" in a proposition like "All black things are black" (or any other logical truth).^ Assuming the notion of "word," indeed, we could explain any two forms as synonymous when the putting of the one form for an occurrence of the other in any statement (apart from occurrences within "words") yields a synonymous statement.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ In the extreme case where the linguistic component is all that matters, a true statement is analytic.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The characteristic of such a statement is that it can be turned into a logical truth by putting synonyms for synonyms; thus (2) can be turned into (1) by putting 'unmarried man' for its synonym 'bachelor.'
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .The objection to synonymy hinges upon the problem of collateral information.^ The objection to synonymy hinges upon the problem of collateral information.

 .We intuitively feel that there is a distinction between "All unmarried men are bachelors" and "There have been black dogs", but a competent English speaker will assent to both sentences under all conditions since such speakers also have access to collateral information bearing on the historical existence of black dogs.^ The characteristic of such a statement is that it can be turned into a logical truth by putting synonyms for synonyms; thus (2) can be turned into (1) by putting 'unmarried man' for its synonym 'bachelor.'
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Truths which become false under substitution of 'unmarried man' for 'bachelor' are easily constructed with help of 'bachelor of arts' or 'bachelor's buttons.'
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Otherwise there would be a state-description which assigned truth to 'John is a bachelor' and falsity to 'John is married,' and consequently 'All bachelors are married' would turn out synthetic rather than analytic under the proposed criterion.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .Quine maintains that there is no distinction between universally known collateral information and conceptual or analytic truths.^ Quine maintains that there is no distinction between universally known collateral information and conceptual or analytic truths.

 ^ We intuitively feel that there is a distinction between "All unmarried men are bachelors" and "There have been black dogs", but a competent English speaker will assent to both sentences under all conditions since such speakers also have access to collateral information bearing on the historical existence of black dogs.

 ^ The Mexican short story Valenta, Marek features a chess player who studied the writings of Quine and blurred the distinction between reality and chess.
.Another approach to Quine's objection to analyticity and synonymy emerges from the modal notion of logical possibility.^ The sort of synonymy needed there was merely such that any analytic statement could be turned into a logical truth by putting synonyms for synonyms.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ So, if the verification theory can be accepted as an adequate account of statement synonymy, the notion of analyticity is saved after all.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Finally, given the concept of synonymy thus for linguistic forms generally, we could define analyticity in terms of synonymy and logical truth as in Section I .
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .A traditional Wittgensteinian view of meaning held that each meaningful sentence was associated with a region in the space of possible worlds.^ A traditional Wittgensteinian view of meaning held that each meaningful sentence was associated with a region in the space of possible worlds.

 ^ This phrase has established itself so firmly as a catchword of empiricism that we should be very unscientific indeed not to look beneath it for a possible key to the problem of meaning and the associated problems.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .Quine finds the notion of such a space problematic, arguing that there is no distinction between those truths which are universally and confidently believed and those which are necessarily true.^ Quine finds the notion of such a space problematic, arguing that there is no distinction between those truths which are universally and confidently believed and those which are necessarily true.

 ^ Quine maintains that there is no distinction between universally known collateral information and conceptual or analytic truths.

 ^ First, Mr. Quine rejected the fundamental distinction between what Kant had called analytic and synthetic propositions, or the distinction between statements that seem true no matter what (like "all bachelors are unmarried") and those that are true because of the way things happen to be (like "Mr.
  • W. V. Quine, Philosopher Who Analyzed Language and Reality, Dies at 92 - The New York Times 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.nytimes.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

Confirmation holism and ontological relativity

.The central theses underlying the indeterminacy of translation and other extensions of Quine's work are ontological relativity and the related doctrine of confirmation holism.^ Indeterminacy of translation , Inscrutability of reference , Ontological relativity , Quine's paradox , Radical translation , Confirmation holism , Quine-McCluskey algorithm , Philosophical naturalism .

 ^ The central theses underlying the indeterminacy of translation and other extensions of Quine's work are ontological relativity and the related doctrine of confirmation holism .

 ^ Confirmation holism and ontological relativity .

 .The premise of confirmation holism is that all theories (and the propositions derived from them) are under-determined by empirical data (data, sensory-data, evidence); although some theories are not justifiable, failing to fit with the data or being unworkably complex, there are many equally justifiable alternatives.^ The premise of confirmation holism is that all theories (and the propositions derived from them) are under-determined by empirical data (data, sensory-data, evidence); although some theories are not justifiable, failing to fit with the data or being unworkably complex, there are many equally justifiable alternatives.

 ^ Quine's ontological relativism (evident in the passage above) led him to agree with Pierre Duhem that for any collection of empirical evidence, there would always be many theories able to account for it.

 ^ Confirmation holism • Coherentism • Contextualism • Conventionalism • Deductive-nomological model • Determinism · Empiricism · Fallibilism · Foundationalism · Hypothetico-deductive model • Infinitism · Instrumentalism · Positivism • Pragmatism • Rationalism • Received view of theories • Reductionism • Semantic view of theories • Scientific realism • Scientism · Scientific anti-realism · Skepticism • Uniformitarianism • Vitalism .

 While the Greeks' assumption that (unobservable) Homeric gods exist is false, and our supposition of (unobservable) electromagnetic waves is true, both are to be justified solely by their ability to explain our observations.
Quine concluded his "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" as follows:
.As an empiricist I continue to think of the conceptual scheme of science as a tool, ultimately, for predicting future experience in the light of past experience.^ As an empiricist I continue to think of the conceptual scheme of science as a tool, ultimately, for predicting future experience in the light of past experience.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]
  • i love peru 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.iloveperu.net76.net [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Carnap was the first empiricist who, not content with asserting the reducibility of science to terms of immediate experience, took serious steps toward carrying out the reduction.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .Physical objects are conceptually imported into the situation as convenient intermediaries not by definition in terms of experience, but simply as irreducible posits comparable, epistemologically, to the gods of Homer .^ Physical objects are conceptually imported into the situation as convenient intermediaries -- not by definition in terms of experience, but simply as irreducible posits 18b comparable, epistemologically, to the gods of Homer.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Epistemologically these are myths on the same footing with physical objects and gods, neither better nor worse except for differences in the degree to which they expedite our dealings with sense experiences.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Positing does not stop with macroscopic physical objects.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 . . .For my part I do, qua lay physicist, believe in physical objects and not in Homer's gods; and I consider it a scientific error to believe otherwise.^ For my part I do, qua lay physicist, believe in physical objects and not in Homer's gods; and I consider it a scientific error to believe otherwise.

 ^ Let me interject that for my part I do, qua lay physicist, believe in physical objects and not in Homer's gods; and I consider it a scientific error to believe otherwise.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ He concluded: "For my part I do, qua lay physicist, believe in physical objects and not in Homer's gods; and I consider it a scientific error to believe otherwise.
  • W. V. Quine, Philosopher Who Analyzed Language and Reality, Dies at 92 - The New York Times 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.nytimes.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 .But in point of epistemological footing, the physical objects and the gods differ only in degree and not in kind.^ But in point of epistemological footing, the physical objects and the gods differ only in degree and not in kind.
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  • W. V. Quine, Philosopher Who Analyzed Language and Reality, Dies at 92 - The New York Times 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.nytimes.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ But in point of epistemological footing the physical objects and the gods differ only in degree and not in kind.
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 ^ Physical objects are conceptually imported into the situation as convenient intermediaries not by definition in terms of experience, but simply as irreducible posits comparable, epistemologically, to the gods of Homer .

 .Both sorts of entities enter our conceptions only as cultural posits.^ Both sorts of entities enter our conception only as cultural posits.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]
.Quine's ontological relativism (evident in the passage above) led him to agree with Pierre Duhem that for any collection of empirical evidence, there would always be many theories able to account for it.^ Quine's ontological relativism (evident in the passage above) led him to agree with Pierre Duhem that for any collection of empirical evidence, there would always be many theories able to account for it.

 ^ This works, in his view, with what he called ontological relativity, which holds that because our theories of what exists are not sufficiently determined by the experiences that give rise to them, quite different accounts of what there is, each with its own interpretation of the evidence, may be equally in accord with that evidence.
  • W. V. Quine, Philosopher Who Analyzed Language and Reality, Dies at 92 - The New York Times 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.nytimes.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ The premise of confirmation holism is that all theories (and the propositions derived from them) are under-determined by empirical data (data, sensory-data, evidence); although some theories are not justifiable, failing to fit with the data or being unworkably complex, there are many equally justifiable alternatives.

 .However, Duhem's holism is much more restricted and limited than Quine's.^ However, Duhem's holism is much more restricted and limited than Quine's.

 ^ American philosophy Douglas Hofstadter Duhem-Quine thesis Hold come what may Hold more stubbornly at least Indeterminacy of translation Predicate functor logic .

 ^ It shows that much of what Principia Mathematica took more than 1000 pages to say can be said in 250 pages.

 .For Duhem, underdetermination applies only to physics or possibly to natural science, while for Quine it applies to all of human knowledge.^ Total science, mathematical and natural and human, is similarly but more extremely underdetermined by experience.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .Thus, while it is possible to verify or falsify whole theories, it is not possible to verify or falsify individual statements.^ Thus, while it is possible to verify or falsify whole theories, it is not possible to verify or falsify individual statements.

 .Almost any particular statements can be saved, given sufficiently radical modifications of the containing theory.^ So, if the verification theory can be accepted as an adequate account of statement synonymy, the notion of analyticity is saved after all.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .For Quine, scientific thought forms a coherent web in which any part could be altered in the light of empirical evidence, and in which no empirical evidence could force the revision of a given part.^ For Quine, scientific thought forms a coherent web in which any part could be altered in the light of empirical evidence, and in which no empirical evidence could force the revision of a given part.

 ^ Finally, given the concept of synonymy thus for linguistic forms generally, we could define analyticity in terms of synonymy and logical truth as in Section I .
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]
.Quine's writings have led to the wide acceptance of instrumentalism in the philosophy of science.^ Quine on Matters Ontological by Roger Gibson I. Introduction: Willard Quine has been writing about ontology for almost as long as he has been writing philosophy -- approximately 65 years.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

Existence and Its Contrary

The problem of non-referring names is an old puzzle in philosophy, which Quine captured eloquently when he wrote,
."A curious thing about the ontological problem is its simplicity.^ "A curious thing about the ontological problem is its simplicity.

 .It can be put into three Anglo-Saxon monosyllables: 'What is there?'^ The sort of synonymy needed there was merely such that any analytic statement could be turned into a logical truth by putting synonyms for synonyms.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 It can be answered, moreover, in a word—'Everything'—and everyone will accept this answer as true."[11]
.More directly, the controversy goes, "How can we talk about Pegasus?^ The more they do, the more curious they get about how to do it better -- if they're interested in doing it in the first place.
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 .To what does the word 'Pegasus' refer?^ To what does the word 'Pegasus' refer?

 .If our answer is, 'Something,' then we seem to believe in mystical entities; if our answer is, 'nothing', then we seem to talk about nothing and what sense can be made of this?^ "But I'm talking about something far more subtle than contamination or clumsiness.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Certain statements, though about physical objects and not sense experience, seem peculiarly germane to sense experience -- and in a selective way: some statements to some experiences, others to others.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .Certainly when we said that Pegasus was a mythological winged horse we make sense, and moreover we speak the truth!^ Certainly when we said that Pegasus was a mythological winged horse we make sense, and moreover we speak the truth!

 If we speak the truth, this must be truth about something. .So we cannot be speaking of nothing."^ So we cannot be speaking of nothing."
.Quine resists the temptation to say that non-referring terms are meaningless for reasons made clear above.^ Quine resists the temptation to say that non-referring terms are meaningless for reasons made clear above.

 ^ The problem of non-referring names is an old puzzle in philosophy, which Quine captured eloquently when he wrote, .

 .Instead he tells us that we must first determine whether our terms refer or not before we know the proper way to understand them.^ And we all fervently want to get students to see things our way, to absorb our point of view and to understand why our academic enemies are idiots.
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 ^ Having re-evaluated one statement we must re-evaluate some others, whether they be statements logically connected with the first or whether they be the statements of logical connections themselves.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .However, Czeslaw Lejewski criticizes this belief for reducing the matter to empirical discovery when it seems we should have a formal distinction between referring and non-referring terms or elements of our domain.^ Kant's cleavage between analytic and synthetic truths was foreshadowed in Hume's distinction between relations of ideas and matters of fact, and in Leibniz's distinction between truths of reason and truths of fact.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ One is a belief in some fundamental cleavage between truths which are analytic , or grounded in meanings independently of matters of fact and truths which are synthetic , or grounded in fact.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The other dogma is reductionism : the belief that each meaningful statement is equivalent to some logical construct upon terms which refer to immediate experience.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .He writes further, "This state of affairs does not seem to be very satisfactory.^ He writes further, "This state of affairs does not seem to be very satisfactory.

 .The idea that some of our rules of inference should depend on empirical information, which may not be forthcoming, is so foreign to the character of logical inquiry that a thorough re-examination of the two inferences [existential generalization and universal instantiation] may prove worth our while."^ The idea that some of our rules of inference should depend on empirical information, which may not be forthcoming, is so foreign to the character of logical inquiry that a thorough re-examination of the two inferences [existential generalization and universal instantiation] may prove worth our while."

 ^ By his son; includes complete bibliography of Quine's writings, students, art, memorials, and list of travels Obituary from The Guardian : " Philosopher whose revolutionary ideas challenged the accepted way we look at ourselves and our universe " Text of " Two Dogmas of Empiricism " Text of " On Simple Theories Of A Complex World " .

 ^ Having re-evaluated one statement we must re-evaluate some others, whether they be statements logically connected with the first or whether they be the statements of logical connections themselves.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .He then goes on to offer a description of free logic, which he claims accommodates an answer to the problem.^ He then goes on to offer a description of free logic , which he claims accommodates an answer to the problem.

 ^ Lejewski then points out that free logic additionally can handle the problem of the empty set for statements like .
.Lejewski then points out that free logic additionally can handle the problem of the empty set for statements like \forall x\,Fx \rightarrow \exists x\,Fx.^ Lejewski then points out that free logic additionally can handle the problem of the empty set for statements like .

 ^ He then goes on to offer a description of free logic , which he claims accommodates an answer to the problem.

 ^ The language which Carnap adopted as his starting point was not a sense-datum language in the narrowest conceivable sense, for it included also the notations of logic, up through higher set theory.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .Quine had considered the problem of the empty set unrealistic, which left Lejewski unsatisfied.^ Quine had considered the problem of the empty set unrealistic, which left Lejewski unsatisfied.

 ^ Lejewski then points out that free logic additionally can handle the problem of the empty set for statements like .

 [12]

Logic

.Over the course of his career, Quine published numerous technical and expository papers on formal logic, some of which are reprinted in his Selected Logic Papers and in The Ways of Paradox.^ Reprinted in his 1976 Ways of Paradox .

 ^ Over the course of his career, Quine published a number of technical and expository papers on formal logic, a number of which are reprinted in his Selected Logic Papers and in The Ways of Paradox .

 ^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.Quine confined logic to classical bivalent first-order logic, hence to truth and falsity under any (nonempty) universe of discourse.^ Quine confined logic to classical bivalent first-order logic , hence to truth and falsity under any (nonempty) universe of discourse .

 ^ Hence the following were not logic for Quine: .

 ^ He was delighted to discover early in his career that all of first order logic and set theory could be grounded in a mere two primitive notions: set abstraction and inclusion .

 Hence the following were not logic for Quine:
.
  • Higher order logic and set theory.^ Higher order logic and set theory.

     ^ He was delighted to discover early in his career that all of first order logic and set theory could be grounded in a mere two primitive notions: set abstraction and inclusion .

     ^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
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     .He famously referred to higher order logic as "set theory in disguise";
  • Much of Principia Mathematica included in logic was not logic for Quine.
  • Formal systems involving intensional notions, especially modality.^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ New Foundations Home Page - maintained by Dr. Randall Holmes of Boise State University and devoted to the ongoing study of the system of set theory originated by W. V. Quine...
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ The formal languages towards which I gravitate -- first order languages with standard logic -- are those preferred by Quine, but our reasons for this...
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     Quine was especially hostile to modal logic with quantification, a battle he largely lost when Saul Kripke's relational semantics became canonical for modal logics.
Quine wrote three undergraduate texts on logic:
  • Elementary Logic. .While teaching an introductory course in 1940, Quine discovered that extant texts for philosophy students did not do justice to quantification theory or first-order predicate logic.^ The formal languages towards which I gravitate -- first order languages with standard logic -- are those preferred by Quine, but our reasons for this...
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ Anthony Kenny discusses Aristotelian logic as the basis of Acquinas' thought, and disputes charges that medieval philosophy merely reinforced extant Christian views.
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     ^ Quine set Davidson on a course in philosophy quite different from that of Whitehead.
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     .Quine wrote this book in 6 weeks as an ad hoc solution to his teaching needs.
  • Methods of Logic.^ Quine wrote this book in 6 weeks as an ad hoc solution to his teaching needs.

     ^ The four editions of this book resulted from a more advanced undergraduate course in logic Quine taught from the end of WWII until his 1978 retirement.

     ^ While teaching an introductory course in 1940, Quine discovered that extant texts for philosophy students did not do justice to quantification theory or first-order predicate logic .

     .The four editions of this book resulted from a more advanced undergraduate course in logic Quine taught from the end of WWII until his 1978 retirement.
  • Philosophy of Logic.^ RBJ's Bibilography and notes on Methods of Logic , third edition "http://www.rbjones.com/rbjpub/philos/bibliog/quine70.htm" Philosophy of Logic RBJ's Bibilography and notes.
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ WVQ.html" (AltaVista) The Philosophy of W.V. Quine (Volume XVIII, 1986) For over 30 years, Willard Van Orman Quine has been a dominant figure in logical theory and philosophy...
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ Quine set Davidson on a course in philosophy quite different from that of Whitehead.
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     A concise and witty undergraduate treatment of a number of Quinian themes, such as the prevalence of use-mention confusions, the dubiousness of quantified modal logic, and the non-logical character of higher-order logic.
.Mathematical Logic is based on Quine's graduate teaching during the 1930s and 40s.^ Willard Van Orman Quine - a personal story "http://www.thehub.com.au/~mitch/logic.html" Logic home page including Quine's Mathematical Logic...
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ What properties does Quine use to draw a boundary between logic and mathematics?...
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ This is the substance of Quine, Mathematical Logic (1940; rev. The 'if and only if' itself is intended in the truth functional sense.
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 It shows that much of what Principia Mathematica took more than 1000 pages to say can be said in 250 pages. .The proofs are concise, even cryptic.^ The proofs are concise, even cryptic.

 .The last chapter, on Gödel's incompleteness theorem of and Tarski's indefinability theorem, along with the article Quine (1946), became a launching point for Raymond Smullyan's later lucid exposition of these and related results.^ These summaries and problems deal with Quine's 1948 article, "On What There Is," first published in the Review of Metaphysics.
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 ^ The article is included in Quine's book, From a Logical Point of View (Harper & Row, New York: 1953).
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.Quine's work in logic gradually became dated in some respects.^ Quine's work in logic gradually became dated in some respects.

 ^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Most of Quine's original work in formal logic from 1960 onwards was on variants of his predicate functor logic , one of several ways that have been proposed for doing logic without quantifiers .

 .Techniques he did not teach and discuss include analytic tableaux, recursive functions, and model theory.^ The discussion includes Frege's theory of quantification and Russell's theory of types and descriptions and their contributions to the philosophy of language.
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 .His treatment of metalogic left something to be desired.^ His treatment of metalogic left something to be desired.

 .For example, Mathematical Logic does not include any proofs of soundness and completeness.^ See, for example my Mathematical Logic (New York, 1949; Cambridge, Mass., 1947), sec.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The word "definition" has come to have a dangerously reassuring sound, due no doubt to its frequent occurrence in logical and mathematical writings.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .Early in his career, the notation of his writings on logic was often idiosyncratic.^ Early in his career, the notation of his writings on logic was often idiosyncratic.

 ^ He was delighted to discover early in his career that all of first order logic and set theory could be grounded in a mere two primitive notions: set abstraction and inclusion .

 .His later writings nearly always employed the now-dated notation of Principia Mathematica.^ His later writings nearly always employed the now-dated notation of Principia Mathematica .

 .Set against all this are the simplicity of his preferred method (as exposited in his Methods of Logic) for determining the satisfiability of quantified formulas, the richness of his philosophical and linguistic insights, and the fine prose in which he expressed them.^ Hilary Putnam examines current philosophical thought that dismisses the primacy and infallibility of mathematical logic and the scientific method.
  • Philosophy: Videotapes in the Media Resources, UC Berkeley 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.lib.berkeley.edu [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.Most of Quine's original work in formal logic from 1960 onwards was on variants of his predicate functor logic, one of several ways that have been proposed for doing logic without quantifiers.^ Quine is one of the most influential of.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ A sampling of subsequent topics includes propositional and predicated logic, Bayesian confirmation theory, Boolean logic, Frege's use of variables and quantifiers, Godel's work with metamathematics, the Vienna Circle's logical positivism and the Turing machine.
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 ^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
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 For a comprehensive treatment of predicate functor logic and its history, see Quine (1976). For an introduction, see chpt. 45 of his Methods of Logic.
Quine was very warm to the possibility that formal logic would eventually be applied outside of philosophy and mathematics. .He wrote several papers on the sort of Boolean algebra employed in electrical engineering, and with Edward J. McCluskey, devised the Quine–McCluskey algorithm of reducing Boolean equations to a minimum covering sum of prime implicants.^ This machine will reduce minterms to the prime implicants by using the Quine-McCluskey Method.
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Set theory

.While his contributions to logic include elegant expositions and a number of technical results, it is in set theory that Quine was most innovative.^ Higher order logic and set theory.

 ^ While his contributions to logic include elegant expositions and a number of technical results, it is in set theory that Quine was most innovative.

 ^ He was delighted to discover early in his career that all of first order logic and set theory could be grounded in a mere two primitive notions: set abstraction and inclusion .

 .He always maintained that mathematics required set theory and that set theory was quite distinct from logic.^ He always maintained that mathematics required set theory and that set theory was quite distinct from logic.

 ^ Higher order logic and set theory.

 ^ He was delighted to discover early in his career that all of first order logic and set theory could be grounded in a mere two primitive notions: set abstraction and inclusion .

 .He flirted with Nelson Goodman's nominalism for a while, but backed away when he failed to find a nominalist grounding of mathematics.^ He flirted with Nelson Goodman 's nominalism for a while, but backed away when he failed to find a nominalist grounding of mathematics.
Over the course of his career, Quine proposed three variants of axiomatic set theory, each including the axiom of extensionality:
.
  • New Foundations, NF, creates and manipulates sets using a single axiom schema for set admissibility, namely an axiom schema of stratified comprehension, whereby all individuals satisfying a stratified formula compose a set.^ New Foundations Home Page "http://math.boisestate.edu/~holmes/holmes/nf.html" - maintained by Dr. Randall Holmes of Boise State University and devoted to the ongoing study of the system of set theory originated by W. V. Quine...
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ Type one civilizations use all the energy of a single world.
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     .A stratified formula is one that type theory would allow, were the ontology to include types.^ The discussion includes Frege's theory of quantification and Russell's theory of types and descriptions and their contributions to the philosophy of language.
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     .However, Quine's set theory does not feature types.^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ There is also, however, a variant type of definitional activity which does not limit itself to the reporting of pre-existing synonymies.
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     The metamathematics of NF are curious. NF allows many "large" sets the now-canonical ZFC set theory does not allow, even sets for which the axiom of choice does not hold. .Since the axiom of choice holds for all finite sets, the failure of this axiom in NF proves that NF includes infinite sets.^ Any finite (or effectively specifiable infinite) selection of statements (preferably true ones, perhaps) is as much a set of postulates as any other.
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     The (relative) consistency of NF is an open question. .A modification of NF, NFU, due to R. B. Jensen and admitting urelements (entities that can be members of sets but that lack elements), turns out to be consistent relative to Peano arithmetic, thus vindicating the intuition behind NF. NF and NFU are the only Quinian set theories with a following.^ But definition turned out to be a will-o'-the-wisp, and synonymy turned out to be best understood only by dint of a prior appeal to analyticity itself.
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     ^ Relative to the given set of postulates, it is easy to say that what a postulate is: it is a member of the set.
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     .For a derivation of foundational mathematics in NF, see Rosser (1953);
  • The set theory of Mathematical Logic is NF augmented by the proper classes of Von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory, except axiomatized in a much simpler way;
  • The set theory of Set Theory and Its Logic does away with stratification and is almost entirely derived from a single axiom schema.^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ See, for example my Mathematical Logic (New York, 1949; Cambridge, Mass., 1947), sec.
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     ^ Mathematical logic, which has emerged only in the last hundred and fifty years, is well known to be abstruse and terrifying, and has made the logician into a creature mathematicians view in much the same way others view mathematicians, i.e.
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     Quine derived the foundations of mathematics once again. This book includes the definitive exposition of Quine's theory of virtual sets and relations, and surveyed axiomatic set theory as it stood circa 1960. However, Fraenkel, Bar-Hillel and Levy (1973) do a better job of surveying set theory as it stood at mid-century.
.All three set theories admit a universal class, but since they are free of any hierarchy of types, they have no need for a distinct universal class at each type level.^ The distinction between meaning and naming is no less important at the level of abstract terms.
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.Quine's set theory and its background logic were driven by a desire to minimize posits; each innovation is pushed as far as it can be pushed before further innovations are introduced.^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ The language which Carnap adopted as his starting point was not a sense-datum language in the narrowest conceivable sense, for it included also the notations of logic, up through higher set theory.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ WVQ.html" (AltaVista) The Philosophy of W.V. Quine (Volume XVIII, 1986) For over 30 years, Willard Van Orman Quine has been a dominant figure in logical theory and philosophy...
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 For Quine, there is but one connective, the Sheffer stroke, and one quantifier, the universal quantifier. All polyadic predicates can be reduced to one dyadic predicate, interpretable as set membership. His rules of proof were limited to modus ponens and substitution. He preferred conjunction to either disjunction or the conditional, because conjunction has the least semantic ambiguity. .He was delighted to discover early in his career that all of first order logic and set theory could be grounded in a mere two primitive notions: set abstraction and inclusion.^ Assuming the notion of "word," indeed, we could explain any two forms as synonymous when the putting of the one form for an occurrence of the other in any statement (apart from occurrences within "words") yields a synonymous statement.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Quiddities notes by Roger Jones - As far as I know his work Quine started his career and made his reputation in Logic and Set theory.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ The sort of synonymy needed there was merely such that any analytic statement could be turned into a logical truth by putting synonyms for synonyms.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 .For an elegant introduction to the parsimony of Quine's approach to logic, see his "New Foundations for Mathematical Logic," ch.^ See, for example my Mathematical Logic (New York, 1949; Cambridge, Mass., 1947), sec.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Willard Van Orman Quine - a personal story "http://www.thehub.com.au/~mitch/logic.html" Logic home page including Quine's Mathematical Logic...
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Mathematical Quotations - Quine, Willard Van Orman Just as the introduction of the irrational numbers ...
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 .5 in his From a Logical Point of View.^ O, (1953), 'On What There Is' in From a Logical Point of View (Cambridge: Harvard University Press)...
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ The article is included in Quine's book, From a Logical Point of View (Harper & Row, New York: 1953).
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

Quine's epistemology

.Just as he challenged the dominant analytic-synthetic distinction, Quine also took aim at traditional normative epistemology.^ In particular, in his celebrated essay `Two Dogmas of Empiricism' he made a devastating attack on the analytic/ synthetic distinction, which forced those in the analytical tradition to re-assess the fundamental concepts and purpose of epistemology and the theory of meaning.....
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 ^ Kant's cleavage between analytic and synthetic truths was foreshadowed in Hume's distinction between relations of ideas and matters of fact, and in Leibniz's distinction between truths of reason and truths of fact.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Quotations from the Writings of Willard Van Orman Quine: On the Analytic/Synthetic dichotomy: It is obvious that truth in general depends on both language and extra-linguistic fact.
  • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 According to Quine, normative epistemology is the trend that assigns ought claims to conditions of knowledge. .This approach, he argued, has failed to give us any real understanding of the necessary and sufficient conditions for knowledge.^ The question before us, to resume the thread at last, is whether such interchangeability is a sufficient condition for cognitive synonymy.
  • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

 Quine recommended that, as an alternative, we look to natural sciences like psychology for a full explanation of knowledge. Thus, we must totally replace our entire epistemological paradigm. .Quine's proposal is extremely controversial among contemporary philosophers and has several important critics, with Jaegwon Kim the most prominent among them.^ In this program contemporary philosophers and academicians address the major philosophical currents of that era -- and the explosive controversies surrounding them.
  • Philosophy: Videotapes in the Media Resources, UC Berkeley 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.lib.berkeley.edu [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

 [13]

In popular culture

  • A computer program whose output is its source code is named a "quine" after W.V. Quine.
  • The Mexican short story Valenta, Marek features a chess player who studied the writings of Quine and blurred the distinction between reality and chess.

Bibliography

Selected books

  • 1951 (1940). Mathematical Logic. Harvard Univ. Press. ISBN 0-674-55451-5.
  • 1966. Selected Logic Papers. New York: Random House.
  • 1970. The Web of Belief. .New York: Random House.
  • 1980 (1941).^ Or see Armand Lowinger, The Methodology of Pierre Duhem (New York: Columbia University Press, 1941): 132-140.
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     Elementary Logic. Harvard Univ. Press. ISBN 0-674-24451-6.
  • 1982 (1950). Methods of Logic. Harvard Univ. Press.
  • 1980 (1953). From a Logical Point of View. Harvard Univ. Press. .ISBN 0-674-32351-3. Contains "Two dogmas of Empiricism."
  • 1960 Word and Object.^ Modern empiricism has been conditioned in large part by two dogmas.
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     ^ Two Dogmas of Empiricism Two Dogmas of Empiricism 1a .
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     ^ Two Dogmas of Empiricism by Willard Van Orman Quine.
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     MIT Press; ISBN 0-262-67001-1. The closest thing Quine wrote to a philosophical treatise. Chpt. 2 sets out the indeterminacy of translation thesis.
  • 1976 (1966). The Ways of Paradox. Harvard Univ. Press.
  • 1969 Ontological Relativity and Other Essays. Columbia Univ. Press. ISBN 0-231-08357-2. Contains chapters on ontological relativity, naturalized epistemology and natural kinds.
  • 1969 (1963). .Set Theory and Its Logic.^ The language which Carnap adopted as his starting point was not a sense-datum language in the narrowest conceivable sense, for it included also the notations of logic, up through higher set theory.
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     Harvard Univ. Press.
  • 1985 The Time of My Life – An Autobiography. Cambridge, The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-17003-5. 1986: Harvard Univ. Press.
  • 1986 (1970). The Philosophy of Logic. Harvard Univ. Press.
  • 1987 Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary. Harvard Univ. Press. ISBN 0-14-012522-1. A work of essays, many subtly humorous, for lay readers, very revealing of the breadth of his interests.
  • 1992 (1990). Pursuit of Truth. Harvard Univ. Press. A short, lively synthesis of his thought for advanced students and general readers not fooled by its simplicity. ISBN 0-674-73951-5.

Important articles

  • 1946, "Concatenation as a basis for arithmetic." Reprinted in his Selected Logic Papers. Harvard Univ. Press.
  • 1948, "On What There Is," Review of Metaphysics. Reprinted in his 1953 From a Logical Point of View. Harvard University Press.
  • 1951, "Two Dogmas of Empiricism," The Philosophical Review 60: 20–43. Reprinted in his 1953 From a Logical Point of View. Harvard University Press.
  • 1956, "Quantifiers and Propositional Attitudes," Journal of Philosophy 53. Reprinted in his 1976 Ways of Paradox. Harvard Univ. Press: 185–96.
  • 1969, "Epistemology Naturalized" in Ontological Relativity and Other Essays. New York: Columbia University Press: 69–90.

See also

Philosophy portal
Logic portal

Notes

  1. ^ "So who *is* the most important philosopher of the past 200 years?" Leiter Reports. Leiterreports.typepad.com. 11 March 2009. Accessed 8 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Quine's Philosophy of Science". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Iep.utm.edu. 27 July 2009. Accessed 8 March 2010.
  3. ^ "Mr Strawson on Logical Theory". WV Quine. Mind Vol. 62 No. 248. Oct. 1953.
  4. ^ "Guide to the Center for Advanced Studies Records, 1958 - 1969". Weselyan University. Wesleyan.edu. Accessed 8 March 2010.
  5. ^ Wall Street Journal obituary for W V Quine - Jan 4 2001
  6. ^ Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary, entries for Tolerance (pp.206-8) and Freedom (p.69)
  7. ^ “Paradoxes of Plenty” in Theories and Things p.197
  8. ^ The Time of My Life: An Autobiography, pp. 352-3
  9. ^ J.E. D'Ulisse Derrida (1930-2004), New Partisan 12.24.2004
  10. ^ The 'Derrida Affair' at Cambridge University, from "Honoris Causa" pp. 409-413
  11. ^ W.V.O. Quine, "On What There Is" The Review of Metaphysics, New Haven 1948, 2, 21
  12. ^ Czeslaw Lejewski, "Logic and Existence" British Journal for the Philosophy of Science Vol. 5 (1954–5), pp. 104–119
  13. ^ "Naturalized Epistemology". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Plato.stanford.edu. 5 July 2001. Accessed 8 March 2010.

Further reading

  • Gibson, Roger F., 1982/86. The Philosophy of W.V. Quine: An Expository Essay. Tampa: University of South Florida.
  • ————, 1988. Enlightened Empiricism: An Examination of W. V. Quine's Theory of Knowledge Tampa: University of South Florida.
  • ————, ed., 2004. The Cambridge Companion to Quine. Cambridge University Press.
  • ————, 2004. Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W. V. Quine. Harvard Univ. Press.
  • ———— and Barrett, R., eds., 1990. Perspectives on Quine. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Gochet, Paul, 1978. Quine en perspective, Paris, Flammarion.
  • Godfrey-Smith, Peter, 2003. Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science.
  • Grattan-Guinness, Ivor, 2000. The Search for Mathematical Roots 1870–1940. Princeton University Press.
  • Hahn, L. E., and Schilpp, P. A., eds., 1986. The Philosophy of W. V. O. Quine (The Library of Living Philosophers). Open Court.
  • Köhler, Dieter, 1999/2003. Sinnesreize, Sprache und Erfahrung: eine Studie zur Quineschen Erkenntnistheorie. .Ph.D. thesis, Univ.^ Ph.D. thesis, Univ.

     of Heidelberg.
  • Orenstein, Alex (2002). W.V. Quine. Princeton University Press. 
  • Rosser, John Barkley, 1953.
  • Valore, Paolo, 2001. Questioni di ontologia quineana, Milano: Cusi.

External links


Quotes

Up to date as of January 14, 2010
(Redirected to Willard van Orman Quine article)

From Wikiquote

.Willard Van Orman Quine (25 June 1908 – 25 December 2000) was an influential 20th Century American philosopher and logician.^ She married Willard Van Orman Quine (mathematician, philosopher) in September 1948.
  • Paine Genealogy 13 Generations by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.quine.org [Source type: General]

 ^ Ihre Buchsuche Quine-Willard-van-Orman im Überblick.
  • Bücher Willard van Orman Quine - Alle Bücher des Autors Willard van Orman Quine - Seite 1 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.buch-stube.de [Source type: General]

 ^ Willard van Orman Quine '30, hon.
  • Oberlin Alumni Magazine > Spring 2001 Vol.96 No.4 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.oberlin.edu [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

Sourced

.
  • Nonbeing must in some sense be, otherwise what is it that there is not?^ "Nonbeing must in some sense be, otherwise what is it that there is not?
    • Plato, Pegasus, and the Evening Star 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC m759.freeservers.com [Source type: General]

     ^ Not every true statement which says that the statements of some class are true can count as a semantical rule -- otherwise all truths would be "analytic" in the sense of being true according to semantical rules.
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     .This tangled doctrine might be nicknamed Plato's beard; historically it has proved tough, frequently dulling the edge of Occam's razor.^ This tangled doctrine might be nicknamed Plato's beard ; historically it has proved tough, frequently dulling the edge of Occam's razor....
    • Plato, Pegasus, and the Evening Star 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC m759.freeservers.com [Source type: General]

     .
    • From "On what there is"; in From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays; Harper and Row, New York (1953).
  • To be is to be the value of a variable.^ Summer 1995 Seminar “W.V.O. Quine : From a Logical Point of View”.

     ^ Reprinted in his 1953 From a Logical Point of View .

     ^ Wittgenstein considered this situation in his Philosophical Investigations and pointed out that there is some chance that you and this mysterious stranger may never realize something is wrong.
    • Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC tacit.caltech.edu [Source type: Original source]

     .
    • From "On what there is"; in From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays; Harper and Row, New York (1953).
  • Creatures inveterately wrong in their inductions have a pathetic but praise-worthy tendency to die before reproducing their kind.^ The article is included in Quine's book, From a Logical Point of View (Harper & Row, New York: 1953).
    • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ Wittgenstein considered this situation in his Philosophical Investigations and pointed out that there is some chance that you and this mysterious stranger may never realize something is wrong.
    • Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC tacit.caltech.edu [Source type: Original source]

     ^ His writings include Mathematical Logic (1940), From a Logical Point of View (1953), Word and Object (1960), Philosophy of Logic (1969), Set Theory and Its Logic, Methods of Logic (3d ed.
    • W. V. Quine - FREE W. V. Quine information | Encyclopedia.com: Facts, pictures, information! 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.encyclopedia.com [Source type: Academic]

     .
    • Quine, Willard Van Orman (1969).^ Ihre Buchsuche Quine-Willard-van-Orman im Überblick.
      • Bücher Willard van Orman Quine - Alle Bücher des Autors Willard van Orman Quine - Seite 1 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.buch-stube.de [Source type: General]

       ^ Willard van Orman Quine '30, hon.
      • Oberlin Alumni Magazine > Spring 2001 Vol.96 No.4 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.oberlin.edu [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

       ^ Willard van Orman Quine .
      • Universal Library 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC jubal.westnet.com [Source type: Original source]
      • Willard van Orman Quine - MSN Encarta 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC de.encarta.msn.com [Source type: Academic]

       ."Natural Kinds". In Ontological relativity and other essays, p.^ Contains chapters on ontological relativity , naturalized epistemology and natural kinds .

       ^ Ontological Relativity in: Ontological Relativity and other Essays.

       ^ In Ontological Relativity (1968), The Roots of Reference (1974), Pursuit of Truth (1992), and From Stimulus to Science (1995) and essays such as "Epistemology Naturalized" Quine's naturalism comes to the fore.

       126. Columbia UP. (Originally written for a festschrift for Carl Gustav Hempel.)
      • .
    • Appears in a context explaining why induction tends to work in practice, despite theoretical objections.
    • The hyphen in "praise-worthy" is ambiguous, since it falls on a line break in the source.
  • Wyman's overpopulated universe is in many ways unlovely.^ Wyman’s overpopulated universe is in many ways unlovely.
    • On What There Is - Wikisource 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC en.wikisource.org [Source type: Original source]

     ^ But it is practical in another way: it greatly simplifies theoretical discourse about the language, through minimizing the terms and the forms of construction wherein the language consists.
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     ^ Certainly many forces were verging in that same direction, but Darwin's work was the crashing arrival of this idea and from that point on, the secular viewpoint of the world became virtually universal.
    • Edge: WHAT EVOLUTION IS 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.edge.org [Source type: Original source]

     .It offends the aesthetic sense of us who have a taste for desert landscapes.^ It offends the aesthetic sense of us who have a taste for desert landscapes, but this is not the worst of it.
    • On What There Is - Wikisource 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC en.wikisource.org [Source type: Original source]

     .
    • July 1988, "On What There Is", in From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays, p.^ Summer 1995 Seminar “W.V.O. Quine : From a Logical Point of View”.

       ^ Wittgenstein considered this situation in his Philosophical Investigations and pointed out that there is some chance that you and this mysterious stranger may never realize something is wrong.
      • Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC tacit.caltech.edu [Source type: Original source]

       ^ During 1953-54 Quine was Eastman Visiting Professor at Oxford and during that time he published a book From a Logical Point of View which was a collection of his earlier articles.

       .4.
    • A humorous comment on the idea "unactualized possible".
  • The word 'definition' has come to have a dangerously reassuring sound, owing no doubt to its frequent occurrence in logical and mathematical writings."^ I have no idea how many users there are in the specific field of mathematical logic, but I suppose the use of \eth and \thorn for some special kinds of differentials in quantum field theory is equally rare.
    • Re: patch for bigdoc.tex, fontchart.sty 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.tug.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

     ^ For example, Mathematical Logic does not include any proofs of soundness and completeness .

     ^ For it follows from a discovery in mathematical logic, due to Church [2], that there can be no generally applicable test of contradictoriness.
    • On What There Is - Wikisource 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC en.wikisource.org [Source type: Original source]

     .
    • July 1988, "Two dogmas of Empiricism", in From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays, p.^ Summer 1995 Seminar “W.V.O. Quine : From a Logical Point of View”.

       ^ In particular, in his celebrated essay `Two Dogmas of Empiricism' he made a devastating attack on the analytic/ synthetic distinction, which forced those in the analytical tradition to re-assess the fundamental concepts and purpose of epistemology and the theory of meaning.....
      • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

       ^ During 1953-54 Quine was Eastman Visiting Professor at Oxford and during that time he published a book From a Logical Point of View which was a collection of his earlier articles.

       .26.
  • Our argument is not flatly circular, but something like it.^ Our argument is not flatly circular, but something like it.
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     .It has the form, figuratively speaking, of a closed curve in space.^ It has the form, figuratively speaking, of a closed curve in space.
    • Two Dogmas of Empiricism 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.ditext.com [Source type: Original source]

     .
      • July 1988, "Two dogmas of Empiricism", in From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays, p.^ Summer 1995 Seminar “W.V.O. Quine : From a Logical Point of View”.

         ^ Reprinted in his 1953 From a Logical Point of View .

         ^ In particular, in his celebrated essay `Two Dogmas of Empiricism' he made a devastating attack on the analytic/ synthetic distinction, which forced those in the analytical tradition to re-assess the fundamental concepts and purpose of epistemology and the theory of meaning.....
        • Willard Van Orman Quine link archive by Douglas Boynton Quine 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.wvquine.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

         26.
  • A fancifully fancyless medium of unvarnished news. .
    • From "Word and Object" section 1.
    • A mocking title for the 'protocol language' imagined by some of the logical positivists.
  • "Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation.^ "'Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation' yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation."
    • Tomko Consulting, Incorporated 18 September 2009 1:47 UTC www.tomkoinc.com [Source type: General]

     ^ His writings include Mathematical Logic (1940), From a Logical Point of View (1953), Word and Object (1960), Philosophy of Logic (1969), Set Theory and Its Logic, Methods of Logic (3d ed.
    • W. V. Quine - FREE W. V. Quine information | Encyclopedia.com: Facts, pictures, information! 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.encyclopedia.com [Source type: Academic]

     ^ His arguments were devastating to some of the most central dogmas of analytic philosophy , shaking up logic , metaphysics , epistemology , philosophy of science , and philosophy of language .
    • Willard Van Orman Quine@Everything2.com 20 September 2009 11:16 UTC www.everything2.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
    • From "The Ways of Paradox" in "The Ways of Paradox and other Essays"
    • Quine's paradox

Unsourced

  • We cannot stem linguistic change, but we can drag our feet. If each of us were to defy Alexander Pope and be the last to lay the old aside, it might not be a better world, but it would be a lovelier language.

External links


Citable sentences

Up to date as of December 14, 2010

Here are sentences from other pages on Quine, which are similar to those in the above article.








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