
During the past few decades, a radical shift has occurred in how philosophers conceive of the relation between science and philosophy. A great number of analytic philosophers have adopted what is commonly called a "naturalistic" approach, arguing that their inquiries ought to be in some sense continuous with science. Where early analytic philosophers often relied on a sharp distinction between science and philosophy--the former an empirical discipline concerned with fact, the latter an a priori discipline concerned with meaning--philosophers today largely follow Willard Van Orman Quine (1908-2000) in his seminal rejection of this distinction. Sander Verhaegh here offers a comprehensive study of Quine's groundbreaking naturalism. Building on Quine's published corpus as well as a wealth of unpublished letters, notes, lectures, papers, proposals, and annotations from the Quine archives, Verhaegh aims to reconstruct both the nature and the development of his naturalism. As such, Working from Within aims to contribute to the rapidly developing historiography of analytic philosophy, and to provide a better, historically informed, understanding of what is philosophically at stake in the contemporary naturalistic turn. Transcriptions of five unpublished papers, letters, and notes are included in the appendix.
This book investigates the evolution and foundational structure of Willard Van Orman Quine's naturalistic philosophy. Sander Verhaegh, a scholar of analytic philosophy, utilizes an extensive collection of primary source materials to reconstruct Quine's intellectual trajectory. By examining both published works and previously unexamined archival documents, the author argues that Quine's rejection of the science-philosophy divide serves as the primary catalyst for contemporary naturalistic inquiry.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and historians of philosophy recognize this work as a significant contribution to the understanding of Quine's intellectual development. Experts frequently highlight the author's meticulous use of archival materials as a standard for future historiographical research in the field.
Page Count:
240
Publication Date:
2018-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190913185
ISBN-13:
9780190913182
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