From stimulus to science
by Quine, W. V., (Willard Van Orman)
In this short book, based on lectures delivered in Spain in 1990, Quine begins by locating his work historically. He provides a lightning tour of the history of philosophy (particularly the history of epistemology), beginning with Plato and culminating in an appreciative sketch of Carnap's philosophical ambitions and achievements. This leads, in the second chapter, to an introduction to Quine's attempt to naturalize epistemology, which emphasizes his continuities with Carnap rather than the dif…
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- Full title :From stimulus to science / W.V. Quine.
Summary
In this short book, based on lectures delivered in Spain in 1990, Quine begins by locating his work historically. He provides a lightning tour of the history of philosophy (particularly the history of epistemology), beginning with Plato and culminating in an appreciative sketch of Carnap's philosophical ambitions and achievements. This leads, in the second chapter, to an introduction to Quine's attempt to naturalize epistemology, which emphasizes his continuities with Carnap rather than the differences between them. The next chapters develop the naturalistic story of the development of science to take account of how our conceptual apparatus is enhanced so that we can view the world as containing re-identifiable objects.
Having explained the role of observation sentences in providing a checkpoint for assessing scientific theories, and having despaired of constructing an empirical criterion to determine which sentences are meaningful, Quine in the remaining chapters takes up a variety of important issues about knowledge. He concludes with an extended treatment of his views about reference and meaning and his attitudes toward psychological and modal notions.
Edition Statements
- Publication Date:1995.
Publication Statements
- Publisher(s):Harvard University Press
- Place of Publication:Cambridge, Mass
- Language:eng
- Publication Date:1995.
The Physical Object
- Description:vi, 114 p.
Edition Identifiers
- ISBN:0674326350, 9780674326354, 0674326369, 9780674326361
- oclc:on1317820721
- LC Classification:B945.Q54
Table of Contents
I. Days of Yore -- II. Naturalism -- III. Reification -- IV. Checkpoints and Empirical Content -- V. Logic and Mathematics -- VI. Denotation and Truth -- VII. Semantic Agreement -- VIII. Things of the Mind -- Appendix: Predicate Functors.
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