[Revised entry by Peter Hylton and Gary Kemp on March 16, 2023.
Changes to: Bibliography]
Willard Van Orman Quine (1908 – 2000) worked in theoretical philosophy and in logic. (In practical philosophy – ethics and political philosophy – his contributions are negligible.) He is perhaps best known for his arguments against Logical Empiricism (in particular, against its use of the analytic-synthetic distinction). This argument, however, should be seen as part of a comprehensive world-view which makes no sharp distinction between philosophy and empirical science, and thus requires a wholesale reorientation of the…

Originally appeared on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Read More