Quinn's Philosophical Naturalism And Its Theoretical Purport

As a major tendency of the contemporary scientific philosophy, naturalism has been widely noticed by the personages in the field of philosophy. As a matter of fact, naturalism is not a completely new concept. It has existed since ancient times. But for the sake of Quine’s great work, the soul of naturalism and its practical rationality can attract the attention of the philosophers again. It also brings a fresh outlook to all departments of philosophy, and launches a revolution in the philosophical research.There are many reasons for Quine to advocate philosophical naturalism timely. The sharp contrast between the tremendous successes of modern science and the serious predicament of modern philosophy comes first, then the robust state of mind of the natural scientist who has never felt any qualm beyond the negotiable uncertainties internal to science, then the profound rethinking of skepticism, finally the ultimate ruin of reductionism. The working together of these factors makes the promotion of philosophical naturalism as naturally as a ditch is formed when water flows along.Quine had mentioned naturalism many times on different occasions. Although it may change in expressions, in general it was not far off the mark and became more and more clear. For ontology, Quine was opposed to idealism, and stood for materialism and a particular kind of Platonism. The part of epistemology is the most important, the most valuable and the best known part of Quine’s philosophical naturalism as a chapter of declaration. Being different from the grand air of former philosophers, Quine creatively classifies epistemology as a chapter of psychology and hence of natural science. Furthermore he was opposed to first philosophy and transcendental epistemology, and advocates that philosophy should feel free to make use of the findings of scientists in its own pursuit, while also feeling free to offer criticism when those claims are ungrounded, confused, or inconsistent. In this way philosophy becomes "continuous with" science. Naturalism is not a dogmatic belief that the modern view of science is entirely correct. Instead, it simply holds that science is the best way to explore the processes of the universe and that those processes are what modern science is striving to understand. In Quine’s opinion, on the philosophical topic of science, we have to depend on science itself to solve the problems. If science can not work the problem out, then philosophy can not either. Quine mainly uses the findings of scientists in three aspects:behaviorism, genetics and the theory of evolution.Quine’s philosophical naturalism is something of an oddity and is to swim against the current. As can be imagined, it called forth a lot of criticism. In this paper, I will pick up some classical problems and argue in favor of Quine’s philosophical naturalism, trying to make it clear that why it is necessary to make the ontological commitment to abstract entities, that whether it is valid for philosophical naturalism to see itself as metaphysics, and that why even Quine is for foundationalism but still against reductionism at the same time.