W. V. Quine

W. V. Quine

by Alex Orenstein
ISBN-10:
0691096066
ISBN-13:
9780691096063
Pub. Date:
04/14/2002
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
ISBN-10:
0691096066
ISBN-13:
9780691096063
Pub. Date:
04/14/2002
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
W. V. Quine

W. V. Quine

by Alex Orenstein

Paperback

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Overview

The most influential philosopher in the analytic tradition of his time, Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000) changed the way we think about language and its relation to the world. His rejection of the analytic/synthetic distinction, his scepticism about modal logic and essentialism, his celebrated theme of the indeterminacy of translation, and his advocacy of naturalism have challenged key assumptions of the prevailing orthodoxy and helped shape the development of much of recent philosophy.


This introduction to Quine's philosophical ideas provides philosophers, students, and generalists with an authoritative analysis of Quine's lasting contributions to philosophy. The major themes covered include the adaptation of the language of modern logic to formulate a criterion of ontological commitment; Quine's own ontological commitments; Duhemian-Holistic empiricism and the attendant rejection of a priori knowledge; the nature and grounds of logical truth; Quine's criticisms of such notions as meaning, synonymy, analyticity, and necessity; the conjecture of the indeterminacy of translation; modal logic; propositional attitudes; and Quine's work on naturalized epistemology.


Quine's ideas throughout are contrasted with more traditional views, as well as with contemporaries such as Frege, Russell, Carnap, Davidson, Field, Kripke, and Chomsky, enabling the reader to grasp a clear sense of the place of Quine's views in twentieth-century philosophy and the important criticisms of them.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691096063
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 04/14/2002
Series: Philosophy Now
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alex Orenstein is Professor of Philosophy at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. His most recent work is Knowledge, Language, and Logic: Questions for Quine (coedited with P. Kotatko).

Table of Contents

LIST OF FIGURES vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
A NOTE TO THE READER xi
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER ONE: The Theater and Athenian Spatial Practice 35
The Theater of Dionysus 37
The Sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus 41
The City Dionysia: Procession, Sacrifice, and the Secular 44
Inside Out, Outside In: Land, Livelihood, and Living Space in the Polis 54
CHAPTER TWO: Space for Returns 76
The Oresteia: Homecoming and Its Returns 77
Heracles and Home 100
CHAPTER THREE: Eremetic Space 114
Antigone: Desolation Takes the Stage 115
Ajax: Alone in Space, In and Out of Time 123
Philoctetes: The Island eremia 138
Prometheus Bound: The Ends of the Earth 156
CHAPTER FOUR: Space and the Body 168
Hecuba: The Body as Measure 175
Euripides' Electra: The Intimate Body 187
The Bacchae: The Theatrical Body 200
CHAPTER FIVE: Space, Time, and Memory: Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus 215
CHAPTER SIX: Space and the Other 236
Persians 239
The Other Medea: Woman, Barbarian, Exile, Athenian 251
CONCLUSION 270
APPENDIX: Theories of Space 273
NOTES 297
BIBLIOGRAPHY 405
INDEX 435

What People are Saying About This

Grayling

Orenstein's thorough knowledge both of Quine and of philosophical logic put him in an ideal position to explain and discuss Quine's seminal contributions. He does it with clarity and accuracy, and to his illuminating exposition he adds perceptive comment and incisive criticism. This is an outstanding account of Quine's thought, and will be invaluable to anyone seeking a really good, accessible and insightful introduction to it.
A. C. Grayling, Birkbeck College, University of London

Gilbert Harman

This is a useful and sympathetic introductory account of the main philosophical views of the late W.V.O. Quine. Its straightforward account of what Quine says and why he says it will be useful to students and others wishing to understand Quine's views.
Gilbert Harman, Princeton University

From the Publisher

"Orenstein's thorough knowledge both of Quine and of philosophical logic put him in an ideal position to explain and discuss Quine's seminal contributions. He does it with clarity and accuracy, and to his illuminating exposition he adds perceptive comment and incisive criticism. This is an outstanding account of Quine's thought, and will be invaluable to anyone seeking a really good, accessible and insightful introduction to it."—A. C. Grayling, Birkbeck College, University of London

"This presentation of Quine's philosophy is not only a good textbook but also a contribution to Quine scholarship. Written at a level suitable for philosophy majors and beginning graduate students as well as interested laymen, the book is well organized, precise, easy to follow, and includes good examples."—Dagfinn Føllesdal, Stanford University and Oslo University

"This is a useful and sympathetic introductory account of the main philosophical views of the late W.V.O. Quine. Its straightforward account of what Quine says and why he says it will be useful to students and others wishing to understand Quine's views."—Gilbert Harman, Princeton University

Dagfinn Follesdal

This presentation of Quine's philosophy is not only a good textbook but also a contribution to Quine scholarship. Written at a level suitable for philosophy majors and beginning graduate students as well as interested laymen, the book is well organized, precise, easy to follow, and includes good examples.
Dagfinn Follesdal, Stanford University and Oslo University

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