Theories and things

Description

Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1986. — 216 p. — ISBN-10: 0674879260; ISBN-13: 978-0674879263.Here are the most recent writings, some of them unpublished, of the preeminent philosopher of our time. Philosophical reflections on language are brought to bear upon metaphysical and epistemological questions such as these: What does it mean to assume objects, concrete and abstract? How do such assumptions serve science? What is the empirical content of a scientific theory? Further essays deal with meaning, moral values, analytical philosophy and its history, metaphor, the nature of mathematics; several are concerned with logic; and there are essays on individual philosophers. The volume concludes with some general reflections on the contemporary scene and two playful pieces on the Times Atlas and H. L. Mencken. Quine is always, whatever his subject, an elegant writer, witty, precise, and forceful. Admirers of his earlier books will welcome this new volume.ContentsThings and Their Place in TheoriesEmpirical ContentWhat Price Bivalence?On the Very Idea of a Third DogmaUse and Its Place in MeaningOn the Nature of Moral ValuesFive Milestones of EmpiricismRussell’s Ontological DevelopmentOn Austin’s MethodSmart’s Philosophy and Scientific RealismGoodman’s Ways of WorldmakingOn the Individuation of AttributesIntensions RevisitedWorlds AwayGrades of DiscriminabilityLewis Carroll’s LogicKurt GodelSuccess and Limits of MathematizationOn the Limits of DecisionPredicates, Terms, and ClassesResponsesPostscript on MetaphorHas Philosophy Lost Contact with People?Paradoxes of PlentyThe Times AtlasMencken’s American Language