Cart
Free Shipping in Australia
Proud to be B-Corp

Quine versus Davidson Gary Kemp (University of Glasgow)

Quine versus Davidson By Gary Kemp (University of Glasgow)

Quine versus Davidson by Gary Kemp (University of Glasgow)


$173,69
Condition - New
Only 2 left

Summary

Gary Kemp presents a penetrating investigation of key issues in the philosophy of language, by means of a comparative study of two great figures of late twentieth-century philosophy. He reveals unexplored tensions between the views of Quine and Davidson, and presents a powerful argument in favour of Quine and methodological naturalism.

Quine versus Davidson Summary

Quine versus Davidson: Truth, Reference, and Meaning by Gary Kemp (University of Glasgow)

Gary Kemp presents a penetrating investigation of key issues in the philosophy of language, by means of a comparative study of two great figures of late twentieth-century philosophy. So far as language and meaning are concerned, Willard Van Orman Quine and Donald Davidson are usually regarded as birds of a feather. The two disagreed in print on various matters over the years, but fundamentally they seem to be in agreement; most strikingly, Davidson's thought experiment of Radical Interpretation looks to be a more sophisticated, technically polished version of Quinean Radical Translation. Yet Quine's most basic and general philosophical commitment is to his methodological naturalism, which is ultimately incompatible with Davidson's main commitments. In particular, it is impossible to endorse, from Quine's perspective, the roles played by the concepts of truth and reference in Davidson's philosophy of language: Davidson's employment of the concept of truth is from Quine's point of view needlessly adventurous, and his use of the concept of reference cannot be divorced from unscientific 'intuition'. From Davidson's point of view, Quine's position looks needlessly scientistic, and seems blind to the genuine problems of language and meaning. Gary Kemp offers a powerful argument for Quine's position, and in favour of methodological naturalism and its corollary, naturalized epistemology. It is possible to give a consistent and explanatory account of language and meaning without problematic uses of the concepts truth and reference, which in turn makes a strident naturalism much more plausible.

About Gary Kemp (University of Glasgow)

Gary Kemp is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He taught previously at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, and completed his PhD at the University of California. He is the author of Quine: A Guide for the Perplexed (Continuum, 2006), and, with Tracy Bowell, Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide (Routledge, third edition 2009); together with Chris Belshaw, he is also editor of Twelve Modern Philosophers (Blackwell 2009).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ; Introduction ; 1. Facets of Naturalism ; 2. Davidson's Semantics ; 3. Truth, Deflationism, and the T-schema ; 4. Quine versus Davidson on Reference ; 5. Living with Naturalism ; References ; Index

Additional information

NPB9780199695621
9780199695621
0199695628
Quine versus Davidson: Truth, Reference, and Meaning by Gary Kemp (University of Glasgow)
New
Hardback
Oxford University Press
2012-02-16
202
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a new book - be the first to read this copy. With untouched pages and a perfect binding, your brand new copy is ready to be opened for the first time

Customer Reviews - Quine versus Davidson