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A RESERVED READING OF CARNAP'S AUFBAU
Author(s) -
PINCOCK CHRISTOPHER
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
pacific philosophical quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1468-0114
pISSN - 0279-0750
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0114.2005.00240.x
Subject(s) - naturalism , quine , epistemology , philosophy , opposition (politics) , empiricism , reading (process) , interpretation (philosophy) , linguistics , politics , political science , law
The two most popular approaches to Carnap's 1928 Aufbau are the empiricist reading of Quine and the neo‐Kantian readings of Michael Friedman and Alan Richardson. This paper presents a third “reserved” interpretation that emphasizes Carnap's opposition to traditional philosophy and consequent naturalism. The main consideration presented in favor of the reserved reading is Carnap's work on a physical construction system. I argue that Carnap's construction theory was an empirical scientific discipline and that the basic relations of its construction systems need not be eliminated.