SKEPTICISM AND SEMANTIC QUASI-SKEPTICISM IN W. V. O. QUINE:
The conflation of a theory of meaning with deep scientific problems of truth-determination
Keywords:
Quine, semantic skepticism, semantic determinismAbstract
We argue that Quine's skepticism about the theoretical potential of semantics to control the division between analytic and synthetic is the platform he uses to state a new dimension of the problem for meaning determination. The problem of meaning determination fuses with the problem of commensurability (of scientific frames) and translatability (of categorial expressions of language). This is a quasi-skepticism because it does not eliminate the meaning problems. It only radicalize it. It shows the spot where natural science and meaning theory fuse their problems, and the scientific enterprise assumes control over their categorial apparatus for the production of normative stability for its necessary truths.
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