Second Midterm Topic Option #3:

Carnap, Quine and Pragmatism

   Referring to Carnap's "Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology" and Quine's "Two Dogmas of Empiricism", address the following questions.

        1. How do the doctrines of analyticity and reductionism figure into Carnap's paper?

        2. What, if any, are the pragmatist elements in Carnap's account of ontological decision-making?

        3. What are the highpoints of Quine's criticisms of analyticity and reductionism?

        4. Why does Quine conclude that the conception of philosophy he leaves us with is such that ". . .  the considerations which guide [people] in warping [their] scientific heritage to fit [their] continuing sensory promptings are, where rational, pragmatic."