Dear Carnap, Dear Van: The Quine-Carnap Correspondence and Related Work

524 Pages·1990·8.857 MB·English

by  Rudolf Carnap, Willard Van Orman Quine, Richard Creath

The Quine-Carnap
Correspondence
and Related Work
W.V. Quine and
Rudolf Carnap
Edited, with an
Introduction by
Richard Creath
Dear Carnap,
Dear Van
Rudolf Carnap and W. V. Quine, two of the
twentieth century's most important philoso­
phers, corresponded at length—and over a
long period of time—on matters personal,
professional, and philosophical. Their
friendship encompassed issues and disa­
greements that go to the heart of contempo­
rary philosophic discussions. Carnap (1891-
1970) was a founder and leader of the logical
positivist school. The younger Quine
(1908- ) began as a staunch admirer of Car­
nap's ideas but diverged from him increas­
ingly over questions in the analysis of
meaning and the justification of belief. Yet
the two remained close, relishing their dif­
ferences through years of correspondence.
Their letters, presented in full for the first
time, reveal both the originality of their
thought and the strength of their friendship.
Quine's conflict with Carnap culminated
most memorably in his assault on one of the
"dogmas of empiricism," the analytic-
synthetic distinction. This attack has often
been cited as a foundation of the argument
that no universal standard of rationally de­
monstrable truth exists, and that all scientific
theories contain some undemonstrable and
historically determined elements. A previ­
ously unknown reply by Carnap to Quine's
influential "Two Dogmas of Empiricism” is
included in this volume. "Quine on Ana­
lyticity," as it is called, is one of several valu­
able supplements to the correspondence.
Others are Quine's celebrated "Lectures on
Carnap" of 1934, which introduced Carnap's
philosophy to the American audience, and
his "Homage to Carnap." Together they am­
plify the central issues and deepen our un­
derstanding of the philosophers' thought.
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[DEAR CARNAP, DEAR VAN]
Ina and Rudolf Carnap, Prague, 1933.
The Quine-Carnap
Correspondence
and Related Work
W.V. Quine and
Rudolf Carnap
Edited, with an
Introduction by
Richard Creath
University of California Press
Berkeley • Los Angeles • London
Photographs of W. V* Quine and Ina and Rudolf Carnap courtesy
of the Archives of Scientific Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press
Oxford, England
Copyright © 1990 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in*Publication Data
Carnap, Rudolf, 1891-1970,
Dear Carnap, dear Van : the Quine-Camap correspondence and other
material / edited and with an introduction by Richard Creath*
p* cm.
ISBN 0-510-06847-5
1. Analysis (Philosophy) 2. Logic. 3. Justification (Theory of
knowledge) 4. Catnap, Rudolf, 1891-1970—Correspondence. 5. Quine,
W. V. (Willard Van Orman)—Correspondence. I. Quine, W
V (Willard Van Orman) IL Creath, Richard, III, Title.
8808,5.038 1990
191—dczo 90-40111
C1P
Printed in the United States of America
1^3456789
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI £39.48-1984 ®
[C O N TEN TS]
Preface, vii
Acknowledgments, xiii
Introduction, i
LECTURES ON CARNAP / BY W. V. QUINE
Lecture 1: The A Priori,
Lecture II: Syntax, 68
Lecture III: Philosophy as Syntax, 87
THE QUINE-CARNAP CORRESPONDENCE
105
QUINE ON ANALYTICITY / BY RUDOLF CARNAP
427
THE QUINE-CARNAP CORRESPONDENCE
(CONTINUED)
433
HOMAGE TO RUDOLF CARNAP / BY W. V. QUINE
463
Index, 467