Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary - Hardcover

Quine, W. V.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674743512 ISBN 13: 9780674743519

Publisher: Belknap Press, 1987

Synopsis

The appellation "polymath" is often lightly bestowed, but it can be applied with confidence to the celebrated philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine. Quine's areas of interest are panoramic, as this lively book amply demonstrates.

Moving from A (alphabet) to Z (zero), Quiddities roams through more than eighty topics, each providing a full measure of piquant thought, wordplay, and wisdom, couched in easy and elegant prose--"Quine at his unbuttoned best," in Donald Davidson's words. Philosophy, language, and mathematics are the subjects most fully represented; tides of entries include belief, communication, free will, idiotisms, longitude and latitude, marks, prizes, Latin pronunciation, tolerance, trinity. Even the more technical entries are larded with homely lore, anecdote, and whimsical humor.

Quiddities will be a treat for admirers of Quine and for others who like to think, who care about language, and who enjoy the free play of intellect on topics large and small. For this select audience, it is an ideal book for browsing.

About this title

About the Author

W. V. Quine was Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University. He wrote twenty-one books, thirteen of them published by Harvard University Press.

Reviews

The playful nature of this book is evident not only in its subtitle but in its title as well: quiddities can be either essences or inessentials. The 80-odd entries (alphabet to zero) give us a relaxed, informal Quine speaking his mind unfettered by the exigencies of the active professoriat (he is professor emeritus, Harvard). For the most part, the entries deal with philosophical, linguistic, and mathematical issues ( altruism, beauty, freedom, identity, phonemes, real numbers), but there are also discussions of gambling, gender, and universal library and of neologisms (mathematosis, misling). This mixed bag will interest sophisticated readers; philosophers, while delighting in the free play of a fine intellect, may secretly wish for more depth. Leon H. Brody, U. S. Office of Personnel Management Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0674743512
• ISBN 13: 9780674743519
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 262