“How are we to adjudicate among rival ontologies? Certainly the answer is not provided by the semantical formula "To be is to be the value of a variable"; this formula serves rather, conversely, in testing the conformity of a given remark or doctrine to a prior ontological standard.” ValuesGivenAnswersStandardsDoctrineConformityFormulasTestingRivalsRemarksVariablesOntology Book:Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W.V. Quine Source: Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W.V. Quine
“Nonbeing must in some sense be, otherwise what is it that there is not? This tangled doctrine might be nicknamed Plato's beard; historically it has proved tough, frequently dulling the edge of Occam's razor.” MightToughEdgesDoctrinePlatoBeardRazorsTangledPlato SOccam's Razor Book:Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W.V. Quine Source: Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W.V. Quine
“Unlike Descartes, we own and use our beliefs of the moment, even in the midst of philosophizing, until by what is vaguely called scientific method we change them here and there for the better. Within our own total evolving doctrine, we can judge truth as earnestly and absolutely as can be, subject to correction, but that goes without saying.” MomentsUseTruthScienceBeliefSubjectsJudgingMethodDoctrineEvolveMidstHere And ThereCorrectionsScientific Method Book:Word and Object Source: Word and Object
“The three main medieval points of view regarding universals are designated by historians as realism, conceptualism, and nominalism. Essentially these same three doctrines reappear in twentieth-century surveys of the philosophy of mathematics under the new names logicism, intuitionism, and formalism.” PhilosophyRealityThreeNamesViewsCenturyMathematicsPoint Of ViewDoctrineHistorianRealismTwentieth CenturyMedievalSurveys Author:Willard Van Orman Quine
“Theory may be deliberate, as in a chapter on chemistry, or it may be second nature, as in the immemorial doctrine of ordinary enduring middle-sized physical objects.” MayMiddleObjectsTheoryOrdinaryEndureDoctrineChemistryChaptersDeliberate Author:Willard Van Orman Quine
