The Philosophy of W. V. Quine: Meaning, Truth, and Holism
Course for the spring semester, 2004
Department of Philosophy, Soochow University
Chienkuo Mi, Assistant Professor
Course Outline:
W. V. Quine is one of the most influential of contemporary philosophers, whose
work has ranged across a great number of topics and issues in a career spanning some
fifty years (1950s ~ the end of 20th century). Among his rich philosophical work, the
issues will be addressed in this course are: the concept of meaning, the concept of
truth, his doctrine of holism, the theses of the indeterminacy of translation and the
under-determination of theory, the inscrutability of reference, and ontological
relativity. The selected readings will include some of his most important articles and
books: “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”, “On What There Is”, “Ontological Relativity”,
“Epistemology Naturalized”, “On Empirically Equivalent Systems of the World”,
Word and Object, The Roots of Reference, and Pursuit of Truth, etc. The aim of this
course is to grasp Quine’s philosophy in a more comprehensive manner, and the main
focus is in the interrelated fields of philosophy of language, ontology, and
epistemology.
Required textbook:
There will be a course pack in which some of Quine’s works plus two of my
introductory articles are included:
1. W. V. Quine, “Autobiography of W. V. Quine”, collected in The Philosophy of W. V.
Quine, edited by L. E. Hahn and P. A. Schilpp, pp.1-46.
2. Michael Mi, “Quine and the Problems of Holism”, in Soochow Journal of
Philosophical Studies, No. 7/December 2002, pp. 155-198.
3. W. V. Quine, “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”, collected in his From a Logical Point
of View, pp.20-46.
4. W. V. Quine, “On What there Is”, collected in his From a Logical Point of View,
pp.1-19.
5. W. V. Quine, “Five Milestones of Empiricism”, collected in his Theories and
Things, pp. 67-72.
6. W. V. Quine, Word and Object, Sec. 6, pp. 21-25 and Sec.56, pp. 270-276.
7. W. V. Quine, “Necessary Truth”, collected in his The Ways of Paradox and Other
Essays, pp. 68-76.
8. W. V. Quine, “Carnap and Logical Truth”, collected in his The Ways of Paradox
and Other Essays, pp. 107-132.
9. W. V. Quine, “Ontological Relativity”, collected in his Ontological Relativity and
Other Essays, pp. 26-68.
10. W. V. Quine, “Epistemology Naturalized”, collected in his Ontological Relativity
and Other Essays, pp. 69-90.
11. W. V. Quine, “On an Application of Tarski’s Theory of Truth”, collected in his
Selected Logic Papers, pp. ???.
12. W. V. Quine, “Truth and Disquotation”, collected in his The Ways of Paradox and
Other Essays, pp. 308-321.
13. W. V. Quine, Pursuit of Truth, Chapter V, “Truth”, pp. 77-102.
14. W. V. Quine, “Where Do We Disagree?”, collected in The Philosophy of Donald
Davidson, edited by L. E. Hahn, pp. 73-80.
15. Michael Mi, “A Comparison Between Quine’s and Davidson’s Points of View”, in
Soochow Journal of Philosophical Studies, No. 6/April 2001, pp327-368.
Course Evaluation:
One term paper (approximately 10 pages) is required. (70%)
One in-class presentation will be scheduled. (20%)
Regular, well-prepared, and thoughtful class participation will be expected. (10%)