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glb_lub
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I currently have with me the book by philosopher W V O Quine - 'From a Logical point of view - 9 logico-philosophical essays'. It contains his famous essays such as 'On what there is' , 'Two Dogmas of Empiricism', etc. I am having trouble understanding the language of it which includes logical concepts such as 'open sentences' , 'bound variables'.
1) I would like to know the sort of logical background I must have before I can understand it.
Do I have to read books like 'Principia Mathematica' by Russell or the book on 'Mathematical Logic' by Quine ? I know a bit of set theory, i.e the one which is assumed to be known to read Algebra texts. But the notation and terminology of Quine's book seems to be quite different from that. Can essays contained in the book I refer to in the title be understood without diving too deep in the set theory of 'Principia Mathematica'.
2)Also what sort of philosophical background is necessary before reading the book I refer to.
I have read a few of Russell's popular books on philosophy such as 'The Problems of Philosophy' , 'Human Knowledge' , 'Logical Atomism' , etc. And was somewhat able to follow those. I am also faintly aware of traditional philosophy but haven't read entire books such as those by Hume, Kant , etc. Is this enough before reading Quine? Also Quine discusses problems on linguistics such as 'meaning' , 'significance'. Any books where these are discussed in an introductory way ?
So what I am looking for is books which are a prerequisite for reading a book on analytical philosophy such as 'From a Logical Point of View' - (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674323513/?tag=pfamazon01-20) .
Thanks.
1) I would like to know the sort of logical background I must have before I can understand it.
Do I have to read books like 'Principia Mathematica' by Russell or the book on 'Mathematical Logic' by Quine ? I know a bit of set theory, i.e the one which is assumed to be known to read Algebra texts. But the notation and terminology of Quine's book seems to be quite different from that. Can essays contained in the book I refer to in the title be understood without diving too deep in the set theory of 'Principia Mathematica'.
2)Also what sort of philosophical background is necessary before reading the book I refer to.
I have read a few of Russell's popular books on philosophy such as 'The Problems of Philosophy' , 'Human Knowledge' , 'Logical Atomism' , etc. And was somewhat able to follow those. I am also faintly aware of traditional philosophy but haven't read entire books such as those by Hume, Kant , etc. Is this enough before reading Quine? Also Quine discusses problems on linguistics such as 'meaning' , 'significance'. Any books where these are discussed in an introductory way ?
So what I am looking for is books which are a prerequisite for reading a book on analytical philosophy such as 'From a Logical Point of View' - (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674323513/?tag=pfamazon01-20) .
Thanks.