Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W. V. Quine - Softcover

W. V. Quine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674027558 ISBN 13: 9780674027558

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Influenced by Russell and especially by Carnap, Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000) emerged as an important proponent of analytic philosophy during the second half of the century. His work includes "Word and Object" and "Two Dogmas of Empiricism". This volume collects Quine's essays and offers readers an introduction to his general philosophy.

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Review:

Specialists...will be grateful for this well-modulated selection of Quine's most important essays and articles, which reflect his thinking up to the end of his life.-- (06/01/2004)

This new collection of published essays by Willard van Orman Quine (1908-2000) is presented by its editor, Roger F. Gibson (following a suggestion of Nelson Goodman's) as a "meta-anthology" or "anthology of anthologies," that is to say, an anthology of previously anthologized material. It contains twenty-five original essays by Quine that were published, in various venues, over a span of over sixty years in Quine's career...Quine's sharpness and lucidity, the depth of his confrontation with the empiricist tradition, as well as the strength of his alternative (physicalist and extensionalist) form of empiricism, come across very clearly...A heart-warming feature of this collection (one which is likely to help the beginner) is the coupling of some of the classical essays of Quine with all their polemical sharpness, to retrospective essays in which a much older (and kinder) Quine reflects on his past accomplishments, sometimes modifying the sharp edges of his polemical arguments, sometimes taking back excessive formulations, and often acknowledging the strength of his one-time opponents' views or offering words of self-criticism...Although this collections contains materials that are already well anthologized and collected, its distinctiveness and value lies in its bringing together two distinct voices of Quine's. In so doing it enriches our perspective on one of the most impressive philosophical oeuvres of the twentieth century.-- (10/01/2006)

Synopsis:

Through the first half of the twentieth century, analytic philosophy was dominated by Russell, Wittgenstein, and Carnap. Influenced by Russell and especially by Carnap, another towering figure, Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000) emerged as the most important proponent of analytic philosophy during the second half of the century. Yet with twenty-three books and countless articles to his credit - including, most famously, "Word and Object" and "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" - Quine remained a philosopher's philosopher, largely unknown to the general public. "Quintessence" for the first time collects Quine's classic essays in one volume - and thus offers readers a much-needed introduction to his general philosophy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0674027558
• ISBN 13: 9780674027558
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432
• Editor: Roger F. Gibson Jr.