On 'Ontology': Analyzing the Carnap-Quine Debate as a Case of Metalinguistic Negotiation

Sam Whitman McGrath. 2024. "On 'Ontology': Analyzing the Carnap-Quine Debate as a Case of Metalinguistic Negotiation". Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy, Volume 12, No. 1.

本文论述Carnap and Quine's debate about ontology。就一阶而言，二人相矛盾；但是解释了其对“ontology”不同的语义使用，作者认为二人是一致的。作者进一步提出元语言的协商 metalinguistic negotiation来处理ontology在当今哲学中的意义。

1 二人的争论

 the nature and status of ontological inquiry. 卡尔纳普反形而上学，蒯因则试图削弱其论证。对这段哲学史的公案，修正主义者认为，二人其实在深层而言是具有亲缘性的——如果这样，那二人的争论如何理解？作者就试图帮助修正主义者回答这个问题。

2 作者提出metalinguistic negotiation (MLN) 来解释二人的不同

Sections 3 through 5 provide a detailed interpretation of the central texts of the debate. They aim to show that the initial appearance of sharp first-order disagreement between Carnap and Quineism is misleading.

Sections 6 through 8 explore their views about the use of ontological terminology in positive philosophical theorizing. Ultimately, Carnap's view on how "ontology" should be used—pejoratively, as a label for an enterprise that he considers fundamentally misguided—is what drives this negotiation over the term. As such, the Carnap–Quine debate over ontology is best understood as a case of metalinguistic negotiation. To close, we will consider a broader metaphilosophical contrast between the two that stimulated this negotiation.