Willard Van Orman Quine's work revolutionized the fields of epistemology, semantics and ontology. At the heart of his philosophy are several interconnected doctrines: his rejection of conventionalism and of the linguistic doctrine of logical and mathematical truth, his rejection of the analytic/synthetic distinction, his thesis of the indeterminacy of translation and his thesis of the inscrutability of reference. In this book Edward Becker sets out to interpret and explain these doctrines. He offers detailed analyses of the relevant texts, discusses (...) Quine's views on meaning, reference and knowledge, and shows how Quine's views developed over the years. He also proposes a new version of the linguistic doctrine of logical truth, and a new way of rehabilitating analyticity. His rich exploration of Quine's thought will interest all those seeking to understand and evaluate the work of one of the most important philosophers of the second half of the twentieth century. (shrink)

Neste artigo, a partir de tópicos presentes na obra de Newton C. A. da Costa, propomos uma fundamentação rigorosa para de uma possível formulação de teorias científicas através da abordagem semântica. Seguindo da Costa, primeiramente desenvolveremos uma teoria geral das estruturas; no contexto desta teoria de estruturas mostraremos como caracterizar linguagens formais como um tipo particular de estrutura, mais especificamente, como uma álgebra livre. Em seguida, discutiremos como associar uma linguagem a uma estrutura, com a qual poderemos formular axiomas que (...) buscam captar a teoria da estrutura. Por fim, mostraremos como podemos, utilizando este aparato conceitual, fundamentar a formalização de da Costa e Chuaqui do chamado predicado de Suppes, utilizado para caracterizar teorias científicas de modo rigoroso. DOI:10.5007/1808-1711.2010v14n1p15. (shrink)

In this paper, gathering several topics present in the work of Newton da Costa, we propose a rigorous foundation for a possible formulation of scientific theories according to the semantic approach. Following da Costa, as a first step we develop a general theory of structures; inside this theory we show how we can characterize formal languages as particular kinds of structures, more specifically, as free algebras. Next we discuss how we can link a language to a structure, with which we (...) can formulate the axioms that are intended to capture the theory of the structure. Finally, we show how we can, employing the framework developed, formulate da Costa and Chaqui’s formalization of the so-called Suppes’ Predicate, used to characterize scientific theories in a rigorous way. • DOI:10.5007/1808-1711.2010v14n1p15. (shrink)

Reprint of the 1st ed. (1923) which was published in Bd. 6 of the Jahrbuch f'ur Philosophie und ph'anomenologische Forschung.

Let L be a computable vocabulary, let X_L be the space of L-structures with universe ω and let f:2^\omega \rightarrow X_L be a hyperarithmetic function such that for all x,y \in 2^\omega, if x \equiv _h y then f(x) \cong f(y). One of the following two properties must hold. (1) The Scott rank of f(0) is \omega _1^{CK} + 1. (2) For all x \in 2^\omega, f(x) \cong f(0).

Counterfactual reasoning -- envisioning hypothetical scenarios, or possible worlds, where some circumstances are different from what (f)actually occurred (counter-to-fact) -- is ubiquitous in human cognition. Conventionally, counterfactually-altered circumstances have been treated as "small miracles" that locally violate the laws of nature while sharing the same initial conditions. In Pearl's structural causal model (SCM) framework this is made mathematically rigorous via interventions that modify the causal laws while the values of exogenous variables are shared. In recent years, however, this purely interventionist (...) account of counterfactuals has increasingly come under scrutiny from both philosophers and psychologists. Instead, they suggest a backtracking account of counterfactuals, according to which the causal laws remain unchanged in the counterfactual world; differences to the factual world are instead "backtracked" to altered initial conditions (exogenous variables). In the present work, we explore and formalise this alternative mode of counterfactual reasoning within the SCM framework. Despite ample evidence that humans backtrack, the present work constitutes, to the best of our knowledge, the first general account and algorithmisation of backtracking counterfactuals. We discuss our backtracking semantics in the context of related literature and draw connections to recent developments in explainable artificial intelligence (XAI). (shrink)

As indicated in the title, the focus of this essay is on where we should go from here and not the how, which is addressed by other authors in this issue. I am assuming that there is probably a general consensus as to where we should be heading with health care reform, but there may well be some strong differences as to how this can or should be attained.In the summer of 1966, a year after the enactment of “Medicare,” I (...) listened to Harry Becker, then the Executive Director of the New York Academy of Medicine, discuss the significance of the new health legislation and further changes that were likely in the near future. His analysis was that, after numerous attempts over many years, the United States was finally on the verge of implementing universal health insurance for all Americans. The next step would be health insurance for children, “Kiddicare.”. (shrink)

As indicated in the title, the focus of this essay is on where we should go from here and not the how, which is addressed by other authors in this issue. I am assuming that there is probably a general consensus as to where we should be heading with health care reform, but there may well be some strong differences as to how this can or should be attained.In the summer of 1966, a year after the enactment of “Medicare,” I (...) listened to Harry Becker, then the Executive Director of the New York Academy of Medicine, discuss the significance of the new health legislation and further changes that were likely in the near future. His analysis was that, after numerous attempts over many years, the United States was finally on the verge of implementing universal health insurance for all Americans. The next step would be health insurance for children, “Kiddicare.”. (shrink)

Becker gives a brief survey of the philosophically relevant aspects to be found in the history of mathematics, starting with the Pythagorean conception of numbers and its fate at the hands of Plato and Aristotle. He considers the development of the exact sciences based on mathematics, paying particular attention to the problems in pure mathematics. In the final chapter the limitations of mathematical reasoning are examined. Nothing new is presented, but then that is not its purpose. The survey presupposes (...) no special competence in either mathematics or logic.--L. S. F. (shrink)