The Roots of Reference: The Paul Carus Lectures.

QUINE, W. V.

Published by Open Court Publishing 1973 / 1974, La Salle IL, 1973

About this Item

Half title + Carus Lecture page with a photo of Quine on the verso + TP + [v] = Dedication page + [vii]-viii = Contents + [ix]-x = Preface + [xi]-xii = Introduction + [1]-151 + 1 blank leaf. Octavo. First Edition. Quine's Paul Carus LecturesIn the "The Roots of Reference" Quine expands on his earlier concepts about the inscrutability of reference and examines problems with traditional empiricism, arguing for a naturalized epistemology based on holism. The book is divided into three sections, one for each of the three Paul Carus Lectures he originally delivered in 1971 at an American Philosophical Association conference. Those three lectures were then revised and expanded for this book, with an introduction by Nelson Goodman.The first section, "Perceiving and learning", summarizes the psychology of perception and learning. The second, "Breaking into language", deals with reification which, he says, moves from rudimentary to full-fledged through the use of the relative clause with its relative pronoun and relative clause with its relative pronoun and subsidiary pronouns. The third section, "Referring to objects", examines properties, classes and numbers. Quine concludes that it is a genetic fallacy to claim that truth cannot emerge from fallacious proofs.Quine is here interested in explaining the "psychogenesis of reference", explaining how sensory perception moves from the ability to describe concrete objects to abstract objects through a series of increasingly complex ways of referring to things. Following sensory reception of input from the physical world, someone acquiring language must learn to form "observation sentences, talk of bodies, compound sentences, quantifies, and numbers until the imagined person has a scheme not much less sophisticated than our own." Accordingly, Quine refines the claims and tasks of epistemology to make good on his basic claim that all knowledge derives from experience.Given that these are the Carus Lectures, Quine presents his often obtuse ontological positions in a relaxed, good-humored style. Publisher's original unclipped dust jacket with red and white lettering on a dark blue field over textured yellow boards with blue lettering to the front panel and the spine. With the former owner's stamp ("D. L. Fowler" in a triangle) to the center of the front free endpaper. A lovely copy of this most accessible work by Quine. ADDITIONAL PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

Seller Inventory # 1494

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Roots of Reference: The Paul Carus Lectures.
• Publisher: Open Court Publishing 1973 / 1974, La Salle IL
• Publication Date: 1973
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: FIRST EDITION.
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Philosophy & Religions