The Themes of Quine’s Philosophy: Meaning, Reference, and Knowledge by Edward Becker (PDF)

Description

Willard Van Orman Quine’s work revolutionized the fields of epistemology, semantics and ontology. At the heart of his philosophy are several interconnected doctrines: his rejection of conventionalism and of the linguistic doctrine of logical and mathematical truth, his rejection of the analytic/synthetic distinction, his thesis of the indeterminacy of translation and his thesis of the inscrutability of reference. In this book Edward Becker sets out to interpret and explain these doctrines. He offers detailed analyses of the relevant texts, discusses Quine’s views on meaning, reference and knowledge, and shows how Quine’s views developed over the years. He also proposes a new version of the linguistic doctrine of logical truth, and a new way of rehabilitating analyticity. His rich exploration of Quine’s thought will interest all those seeking to understand and evaluate the work of one of the most important philosophers of the second half of the twentieth century.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Quine’s thought has already been widely discussed and analyzed by contemporary philosophers. Edward Becker’s “The Themes of Quine’s Philosophy” attempts to add to whatever insight has been achieved by the investigations of others into various of the major themes of Quine’s writings. Themes considered by Becker include conventionalism, analyticity and synonomy, ontological relativity, and the indeterminacy of translation. Becker’s explanations are tolerably clear. Whether he breaks any new ground is another issue. This is clearly an academic work intended for a small number of fellow academicians. Not much effort has been made to make Quine’s thought accessible to a general audience. Accordingly, the book will most likely be of greatest interest to those who are already scholars of the thought of Quine.

⭐Willard Van Orman Quine was a relatively influential twentieth century philosophy. Much has already been written on his philosophy. “The Themes of Quine’s Philosophy,” by Edward Becker, attempts to add insight to what has already been published concerning Quine. Whether it does or not is another issue. The themes covered include widely discussed and analyzed aspects of Quine’s philosophy, such as conventionalism, analyticity and synonomy, ontological relativity, and the indeterminacy of translation. While Becker gives a tolerably clear explanation of these matters, it is unclear that what he says breaks any new ground. Given the rather steep price for the book, this is certainly a consideration for those with a limited budget.Moreover, being an academic work presumably intended for a small number of academicians (even though Quine’s thought was influential, the reality is that only a small percentage of philosophers have studied him), little effort has been made to make Quine accessible for a general audience. Accordingly, this is a work that is perhaps a labor of love but will be of little interest even to those who are interested in acquiring a general overview of philosophical thought.

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