Church has recently proposed a solution of the paradox of analysis as propounded by Langford in which Church makes use of Frege's distinction between the sense (Sinn) of a name and its denotation (Bedeutung). The main purpose of the present note. is to show that a, version of the paradox may be presented which is not directly solved by Church in his review but which, in turn, may be solved by using; another distinction of Frege-that between the ordinary (gewihnlich) and (...) the oblique (ungerade) use of a name. The second part of the note will be concerned with the relative merits of this second distinction of Frege and Quine's related distinction between purely designative occurrences of a name and occurrences which are not purely designative; they will be compared merely with respect to their effectiveness in removing or solving the paradox of analysis. (shrink)

Si l'on a pu dire que la philosophie analytique, sous l'influence du positivisme logique, a longtemps accordé un statut privilégié à la logique et aux sciences de la nature - parfois au point d'y réduire tout ce à quoi la philosophie peut légitimement prétendre -, il semble désormais que cette conception trop étroite doive laisser place à une étude globale des différentes institutions de la culture, étude dont Morton White entreprend ici la justification philosophique. A la lumière du (...) holisme scientifique de Duhem et de Quine, l'auteur renouvelle les approches de James, de Dewey et des autres représentants de cette grande tradition de la pensée américaine qu'est le pragmatisme. Il nous propose ainsi une véritable reconception de la philosophie dans ses rapports aux sciences et à la culture. (shrink)

One of the most important philosophers of recent times, Morton White has spent a career building bridges among the increasingly fragmented worlds of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. From a Philosophical Point of View is a selection of White's best essays, written over a period of more than sixty years. Together these selections represent the belief that philosophers should reflect not only on mathematics and science but also on other aspects of culture, such as religion, (...) art, history, law, education, and morality.White's essays cover the full range of his interests: studies in ethics, the theory of knowledge, and metaphysics as well as in the philosophy of culture, the history of pragmatism, and allied currents in social, political, and legal thought. The book also includes pieces on philosophers who have influenced White at different stages of his career, among them William James, John Dewey, G. E. Moore, and W. V. Quine. Throughout, White argues from a holistic standpoint against a sharp epistemological distinction between logical and physical beliefs and also against an equally sharp one between descriptive and normative beliefs.White maintains that once the philosopher abandons the dogma that the logical analysis of mathematics and physics is the essence of his subject, he frees himself to resume his traditional role as a student of the central institutions of civilization. Philosophers should function not merely as spectators of all time and existence, he argues, but as empirically minded students of culture who try to use some of their ideas for the benefit of society. (shrink)