Willard Van Orman Quine

By CSummers94

  • Birth of W. V. Quine

    Willard Van Orman Quine was born on the 25th of June in 1908 to his engineer father, Cloyd Robert Quine, and his schoolteacher mother, Harriet Van Orman. He also had an elder brother, Robert Cloyd Quine.

  • Quine's Interest in Philosophy

    His interest in philosophy began at the early age of 9, when he became obsessed with the idea of heaven and hell. Later while in high school, his brother gifted him William James' "Pragmatism" which he read thoroughly and it sparked his desire to understand the universe.

  • BA in Mathematics and Philosophy

    Quine earned his bachelors in mathematics and philosophy from Oberlin College in Ohio, and was awarded a scholarship to Harvard University.

  • World Travel

    Due to a fellowship, Quine traveled through Europe fro 1932 to 1933 where he met Alfred Tarski and other notable persons. He became the disciple of Rudolf Carnap in the Vienna Circle. During this time he developed his ideas in writings that mostly centered on logic.

  • Ph.D in Two Years

    At Harvard, Quine, under the supervision of Alfred North Whitehead, achieved his Ph.D. in just two years. His start at Harvard University began a relationship with the institution that lasted 70 years.

  • First Book Authored

    Quine released his first book titled "A System of Logistics."

  • Professor at Harvard

    He became a professor at Harvard in 1936, where he worked on a second book which became a textbook called "Mathematical Logic" that was released in 1940.

  • Ontic Theory

    In metaphysics and ontology, he created his Ontic Theory that states only particular individuals exist, and universal or abstract entities do not exist. He believed this, however he also realized that more than one ontological theory could exist and scientifically be accepted. I have included a video of an interview with Quine on Ontological Relativity. https://youtu.be/-yw-c8sGd_w

  • Epistemology

    Quine was known for rejecting foundationalism for another idea called naturalized epistemology which stated we need logically conclusive justification for the things we know. This allowed a shift to occur in sciences providing a need and want for sound reason on an empirical basis concerning convention, meaning and synonymy.

  • Death of W. V. Quined

    Quine passed away Christmas of 2000. His ashes have been spread between Akron, Ohio, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard, Massachusetts, and Meriden, Connecticut.

  • Authored Works of W. V. Quine

    Quine, W. V. From a Logical Point of View. Harvard Univ. Press, 2003.
    Quine, W. V. Word and Object. M.I.T. Press, 1967.
    Quine, W. V. The Ways of Paradox and Other Essays. Random House, 1966.
    Quine, W. V. Ontological Relativity, and Other Essays. Columbia University Press, 1977.
    Quine, W. V. Theories and Things. Belknap, 1981.
    Quine, W. V. Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary. Harvard Univ. Press, 1987.
    Quine, W. V. Pursuit of Truth. Harvard Univ. Press, 2003.