Works of Quine: Volume 4

Author: Jiuliang Tu, Chen Bo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: This volume includes three works: Word and Object (1953), Word and Object (1960), and The Roots of Reference (1974). The first is an influential collection of essays by Quine, including nine papers such as On What There Is and Two Dogmas of Empiricism. It primarily explores issues such as ontological commitment, analyticity, meaning, and universals, and provides a strong critique of the traditional views on the distinction between analytic and synthetic propositions, as well as reductionism. The second is a representative work of Quine's philosophy, which significantly develops the arguments presented in the first book. In the context of "radical translation," it elaborates on and argues for important topics such as the uncertainty of translation, the indeterminacy of reference, and the relativity of ontology. The third provides a detailed exposition of the author's theory of reference generation, further developing the views presented in works such as Word and Object.