Quine (Arguments of the Philosophers) by Peter Hylton (24-Apr-2007) Hardcover

Arguments of the Philosophers

by Peter Hylton

Quine was one of the foremost philosophers of the Twentieth century. In this outstanding overview of Quine's philosophy, Peter Hylton shows why Quine is so important and how his philosophical naturalism has been so influential within analytic philosophy.Beginning with an overview of Quine's philosophical background in logic and mathematics and the role of Rudolf Carnap's influence on Quine's thought, he goes on to discuss Quine's famous analytic-synthetic distinction and his arguments concerning the nature of the a priori. He also discusses Quine's philosophy of language and epistemology, his celebrated theory of the indeterminacy of translation and his broader views of ontology and modality.This book is essential reading for anyone interested in Quine, twentieth century philosophy and the philosophy of language.

Genres: Philosophy

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Heath Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without a doubt the BEST introduction to Quine out there! Hylton's scholarship is impressively detailed and sensitive to various interpretational issues. If you don't know Quine, but would like to, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For a slightly outdated, and much shorter introduction to Quine's philosophy, see Gibson's "Enlightened Empiricism." Hylton's book is more historical in nature, seeking to understand the claims Quine actually made, while Gibson's seems to be written from the perspective of one seeking to defend Quine, and reconstruct and make additions to Quine's ideas.