A study on analyticity in the philosophy of Quine

• Grant number: 14/06919-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: September 03, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Epistemology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Marco Antonio Caron Ruffino
• Grantee: Leonardo Gomes de Soutello Videira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/05395-9 - A study on analyticity in the philosophy of Quine: latter views, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

In 1951, Quine publishes his celebrated article Two dogmas of empiricism (1961b), where he puts to test the distinction between analytic and synthetic statements, which is so important to the philosophies of Science and of language adopted by analytic philosophers and logical positivists. He argues that the notion of analyticity is unintelligible and, therefore, should be abandoned; meanwhile he proposes a model of meaning and knowledge that disregards the use of this notion, namely, the holist model (semantic and epistemological). The model proposed by Quine depends on the success of his attack on analyticity, which depends on his positions on the notion of synonymy, which in turn depends on his conception of the notion of meaning. The treatments given by him to this notions are deeply criticized during the following years, and this lead him to change his positions in posterior works, such as Word and object (1960), The roots of reference (1973) and Pursuit of truth (1992). The goal of this research is to analyze Quine's arguments and the arguments of his opposers to understand the different positions defended by him on analyticity and other related notions during his career. We will start with the claim that analyticity is unintelligible and the supposition that it would be more advantageous to abandon it, in (1961b), and ends, in (1973) and (1992), with the acceptance of the intelligibility of the notion and its usefulness. Finally, we should try to understand waht were the effects of these changes in other aspects of Quine's Philosophy, such as holism. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

VIDEIRA, Leonardo Gomes de Soutello. Um estudo sobre analiticidade na filosofia de Quine. 2016. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas Campinas, SP.