Abstract

NASCIMENTO, Marcos Bulcão. Quinean holism for a science without dogmas. Prax. filos. [online]. 2009, n.28, pp.99-116. ISSN 0120-4688.

Quinean philosophy undertook a species of "reorientation" of the traditional empiricism. What it offers us is an original way to think the relations between science and world as relations created in and around language. There is no unconceptualized reality - says Quine. In this context, the holistic view of language and science plays a crucial role in the Quinean system. Its importance lies in the fact that it is precisely from holism that the traditional empiricist conception can be reoriented and, so to speak, "saved" of its two dogmas. In effect, it is via holism that is shown that the relation between a statement and the experience is not direct and independent, but always mediated by a theory. An individual statement does not possess by itself empirical content. In fact, science and world are confronted as indivisible blocks, being misleading to think that the cutting of a theory in statements corresponds to an analogous cutting of the world in facts. This is but a dogma of empiricism. Thus, against the analytical-synthetic distinction and the reductionism - the two dogmas of the empiricism - is defended a holistic conception of science; against a dogmatic empiricism, an empiricism - and, therefore, a science - without dogmas.

Keywords : Quine; empiricism; language; science; holism.

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