The Analytic Tradition in Philosophy, Volume 3 : The Struggle for Modality.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Soames, Scott.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Analysis (Philosophy)--History--20th century.

Analysis (Philosophy).

Modality (Logic)--History--20th century.

Modality (Logic).

Genre:

History

Physical Description:

1 online resource (385 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2025.

Summary:

An in-depth history of modal logic in analytic philosophy, from a leading philosopher of languageThis is the third of five volumes of a definitive history of analytic philosophy from the invention of modern logic in 1879 to the end of the twentieth century. Scott Soames, a leading philosopher of language and historian of analytic philosophy, provides the fullest and most detailed account of the analytic tradition yet published, one that is unmatched in its chronological range, topics covered, and depth of treatment. Focusing on the major milestones and distinguishing them from detours, Soames gives a seminal account of where the analytic tradition has been and where it appears to be heading.Volume 3 explains the most important achievement in the analytic tradition in the twentieth century--the rise and development of the epistemic and metaphysical modalities of necessity, possibility, and conceivability--and how it opened new vistas for the understanding of mind, meaning, and metaphysics. At the center of the story is Saul Kripke, who generated new modal systems and their open-ended philosophical applications, and his undergraduate teacher, W.V.O. Quine, who rejected the modalities plus our notions of linguistic meaning and reference. Part 1 traces the rise of modal logic from C. I. Lewis's unhappiness with Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell's Principia Mathematica, through Lewis's modal S-systems, Ruth Marcus's proof-theoretic quantified modal logic, Rudolph Carnap's Meaning and Necessity, and Kripke's logical and philosophical breakthrough. Part 2 chronicles Quine's rejection of meaning, necessity, synonymy, and reference. Part 3 assesses the philosophical framework provided by Kripke's Naming and Necessity, separating its revolutionary insights from its unsolved problems.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

A WORD ABOUT NOTATION

Part One THE BIRTH OF MODAL LOGIC

CHAPTER 1 The Prehistory of Modal Logic

CHAPTER 2 Carnap: Meaning and Necessity

CHAPTER 3 Modal Logic Comes of Age: The Kripke Semantics

Part Two MEANING, REFERENCE, AND ANALYTICITY

CHAPTER 4 Quine on Analyticity, Necessity, and the Dogmas of Empiricism

CHAPTER 5 The Quine-Carnap Debate

CHAPTER 6 Quine: Meaning and Holistic Verificationism

CHAPTER 7 The Indeterminacy of Translation

CHAPTER 8 Eliminating Reference and Meaning: Quine's Radical Metaphysics

Part Three REFERENCE, ESSENCE, MIND, AND METAPHYSICS

CHAPTER 9 Names, Essence, and Possibility

CHAPTER 10 Extending Kripke's Model to Natural Kinds

CHAPTER 11 The Scope and Significance of the Necessary A Posteriori

CHAPTER 12 Meaning, Semantic Content, and Propositional Attitudes

CHAPTER 13 Kripke's Puzzle: Belief, Propositions, and the N ecessary A Posteriori

CHAPTER 14 Anti-Descriptivism 2.0: Addressing New Challenges to Kripke's Modal Revolution

REFERENCES

INDEX OF NAMES

SUBJECT INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780691268880

0691268886

OCLC:

1500764826