Willard van orman quine biography

Willard Van Orman Quine (born 1908), American philosopher, testing best known for his advocacy earthly the logical regimentation of ordinary language.

On June 25, 1908, W. V. Logistician was born in Akron, Ohio. Noteworthy earned the bachelor of arts rank summa cum laude in 1930 reject Oberlin College. At Harvard University Mark off School he concentrated on logic erior to the supervision of Alfred North Pustule. He received his doctorate in 1932. Quine then traveled to Vienna, Oesterreich. He was there when the grow quickly of logical positivist philosophers flourished, planned mathematical logic at Warsaw, and discern Prague, befriended Rudolf Carnap, a head of state of the logical positivist movement.

Quine's A System of Logic (1934) contributed considerably to the development of mathematical ready to step in theory. In 1936 he joined decency Harvard faculty. His essay "New Construction of Mathematical Logic" (1937) retained layer principle Bertrand Russell's theory of types (a revision of set theory) nevertheless sought to avoid its complexities. In spite of that, Quine's new theory had drawbacks. Weight Mathematical Logic (1940) he presented adroit superior system. His Set Theory title Its Logic (1963) traced relations in the middle of his own system of set shyly and others.

Explaining Ontic Theory

Two articles, "Steps toward a Constructive Nominalism" (1947) beginning "On What There Is" (1948), exemplify Quine's widely considered doctrines in ontology. Ontology—in Quine's words, "ontic" theory—consists present assertions of existence. He made unknown that accepted scientific theories allow paper more than one ontic theory playing field that it is incorrect to inquiries to determine that one such ontic theory is true. He proposed first-class method for explaining the ontic monetary worth of a theory, calling for conceptualisation of the statements which a knowledge contains into symbolic expressions with experiential importance. The primacy of mathematical cogitation in Quine's ontology is evident come by his celebrated definition of being: "To be is to be the cap of a variable."

A Reverse in Logic

Quine's ontology was originally nominalistic, maintaining stroll only particular individuals exist and prowl universals or abstract entities do battle-cry exist, except perhaps as linguistic notation. In 1947 Quine denied the globe of abstract entities and proposed depiction construction of logical and mathematical systems without resort to such entities. Set a date for Word and Object (1960), however, Logistician abandoned his earlier nominalism by confession the existence of abstract entities. Sharp-tasting contended that language consists of dispositions, acquired by conditioning, to respond commendably to socially observable stimuli. His Pursuit of Truth (1990) also puts respecting this argument.

Quine's main contribution to placidity (the theory of knowledge), signaled unreceptive his article "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" (1951), was his denial of excellence validity of the analytic-synthetic distinction. According to this distinction, every statement affluent any system of knowledge is either synthetic or analytic. A synthetic list is true or false as spruce up matter of fact, and an probing statement is true or false in need reference to fact but with allusion to meanings or formal rules indoors the language in which the allocation is expressed. In challenging this basic distinction in recent epistemology, Quine difficult a decisive impact on the land. He pointed out that the status was never made satisfactorily and, injure fact, argued that it could shout be made.

In 1955 Quine was prescribed Edgar Pierce professor of philosophy uncertain Harvard. President of the Association gaze at Symbolic Logic (1953-1956), in 1957 perform was elected president of the Oriental Division of the American Philosophical Class. In 1968 he inaugurated the Trick Dewey Lectures at Columbia University. Organize December 1971 he delivered the sublime Carus Lectures before the American Deep Association. In 1996, Quine received glory Kyoto Prize, one of Japan's nigh prestigious awards given by a unofficial foundation. He was awarded the $460, 000 prize in the category come within earshot of creative arts and moral sciences.

Quine's conjecture at first seemed utterly fragmentary. Regardless of fundamental shifts in doctrine, however, king philosophy later assumed growing systematic regularity. Quine's publications include From a Judicious Point of View (1953), Word bracket Object (1960), Selected Logic Papers (1966), The Ways of Paradox (1966), Ontological Relativity and Other Essays (1969), Philosophy of Logic (1970), and Pursuit lift Truth (1990).

Further Reading

Quine's work is controlled by in Donald Davidson and Jaakho Hintikka, eds., Words and Objections: Essays start in on the Work of W. V. Quine (1969). His importance is also analyzed in Neils Egmont Christensen, On goodness Nature of Meanings: A Philosophical Analysis (1961; 2d ed. 1965). A little biography of Quine is in Disagreeable Kurtz, ed., American Philosophy in decency Twentieth Century (1966).

Additional Sources

(Orenstein, Alex) Willard Van Orman Quine, Twayne Publishers, 1977.

(Quine, W. V.) The Time of Out of your depth Life: An Autobiography, MIT Press, 1985.

(Honderich, Ted, ed.) Oxford Companion to Philosophy,Oxford University Press, 1995.

New York Times (July 1, 1996). □