Book contents
- The Philosophical Project of Carnap and Quine
- The Philosophical Project of Carnap and Quine
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Carnap, Quine, and Logical Empiricism
- Part II Carnap, Quine, and American Pragmatism
- Part III Carnap and Quine on Logic, Language, and Translation
- Part IV Carnap and Quine on Ontology and Metaphysics
- Chapter 11 Carnap and Quine on Ontology and Categories
- Chapter 12 Carnap and Quine on the Status of Ontology
- Chapter 13 Carnap, Quine, and Williamson
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 11 - Carnap and Quine on Ontology and Categories
from Part IV - Carnap and Quine on Ontology and Metaphysics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 February 2023
- The Philosophical Project of Carnap and Quine
- The Philosophical Project of Carnap and Quine
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Carnap, Quine, and Logical Empiricism
- Part II Carnap, Quine, and American Pragmatism
- Part III Carnap and Quine on Logic, Language, and Translation
- Part IV Carnap and Quine on Ontology and Metaphysics
- Chapter 11 Carnap and Quine on Ontology and Categories
- Chapter 12 Carnap and Quine on the Status of Ontology
- Chapter 13 Carnap, Quine, and Williamson
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
While a number of commentators have argued that Quine’s account of Carnap’s paper in terms of the category/subclass distinction is simply a misunderstanding of Carnap, this essay argues that it is not. Instead, Quine was correct to construe Carnap’s external questions of existence as all being category questions. Quine’s second claim – that answers to internal category questions of existence are trivial and analytic – was, however, incorrect. Here, this essay then dissents from a view of Ebbs, who has recently argued that Quine was right on both points. Instead, it is argued that epistemic considerations that support Quine’s first point undermine his second point.
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- The Philosophical Project of Carnap and Quine , pp. 215 - 234Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023