Willard van Orman Quine (Quine Willard van Orman)

(p. 1908)
Many philosophers share a common understanding of his philosophy as an attempt to understand the world, using methods that are an extension of common sense and science.
Quine was born in Akron (pc. Ohio) 25 June 1908. He was educated at Oberlin College and Harvard University, and trained by R. Carnap in Prague, met with A. Tarski in Warsaw. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1932, submitting his thesis on logic, prepared under the guidance of AN Whitehead. In 1936, Quine began a long career as a teacher of philosophy, in 1948-1978 he was professor of philosophy at Harvard University.

Quine uses the achievements of modern logic to clarify and resolve traditional philosophical problems, especially the ontological series (issues of form 'What kind of things exist? "). According to Quine, philosophers should prefer the 'desert landscapes' and allow the existence of any objects, only when absolutely necessary. Check the need, he suggests, is deceptively simple: a thing exists, if and only if the best theory, in its most economical formulation, states that it exists. As Quine believes that the best theory must include at least the objects of physics, he wanted to prove that this is the only object that you want the best theory. From the perspective of Quine, the major obstacle to such proof is that mathematics requires the existence of abstract entities (eg, numbers or sets). At the same time, he sees no way to reduce or eliminate such entities.

Quine is also known for his criticism of the claim that some truths are 'analytic' (ie. true in virtue of the mere value of their constituent expressions). The existence of such truths is assumed by most philosophers 'ordinary language' and in many empiritsistskih concepts of logic and mathematics. Quine believes that the very concept of meaning is hopelessly confused, and that even a so-called. 'analytic truth', including the laws of logic, are subject to audit in the face of new experiences. The last statement is closely connected with 'holism' Quine - his thesis that the theory can be tested only as a kind of integrity

. Among the major works Quine - Logic (Mathematical Logic, . 1940); From the standpoint of logic (From a Logical Point of View, . 1953); Word and object (Word and Object, . 1960), Ontological Relativity and Other Essays (Ontological Relativity and Other Essays, . 1969), Philosophy of Logic (Philosophy of Logic, . 1970); origin designations (The Roots of Reference, . 1974); time of my life: an autobiography (The Time of My Life: An Autobiography, . 1985).,