Wittgenstein and Quine: Basic Similarities and Differences

Abstract

The article presents some basic and essential conceptual similarities and differences in the philosophical approaches of two of the leading analytical authors of the 20th century; the mature Wittgenstein from his break with Tractatus onwards and W. V. Quine mainly in the ideas he developed from the book Word and Object onwards. Similarities can be found in the fact that they both rejected the atomistic and reductionist paradigm of the Vienna Circle and the notion of meaning as either a mental or objective abstract entity. In terms of behaviorism and understanding the meaning of sentences and words in use, both of them conceptualized language in a pragmatist framework. However, there are essential differences between their positions as well, arising from their completely different metaphilosophies – grammatical analysis at Wittgenstein's and naturalism at Quine's side.