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Rating: 
Summary: Approached as a textbook, this work shines
Review: Approached as a textbook, this work by Quine and that other guy stands out as an unusual piece that does just enough to interest the reader in the field, without being tedious and overwhelming.
The book is lucidly written, in relatively short and simple sentences. It is extremely well-organized, etc. Since philosophy is a difficult and complex subject, the degree of clarity that is achieved in the text is impressive and even aesthetically pleasing.
One can make sense out of the book if one treats it as outlining a particular point of view: that of the thinker who sees her intellectual habits as further developments of thought processes and methods that emerge as one tries to make sense out of all facets of life. This willingness to promote philosophy--and science--as fields that contribute to one's ability to make sense out of one's situation shows up, in however subdued a fashion, in the authors' willingness to present philosophy as something that is actively carried out in the real world, about the real world, with members of the real world. The subject matter is not reduced to abstractions.
Overall, worth reading as it will orientate everyone to contemporary philosophy.
Rating: 
Summary: Quine made easy
Review: A very enjoyable, introductory philosophy text. It is a very readable and easy introduction to Quine's thought. I highly recommend it to the thoughtful reader who is interested in contemporary philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: Still wonderfully useful as an introduction
Review: Considering the many years since this was first written as "a compact introduction to the study of rational belief" it has wonderfully survived as a gem of a little book. Philosophy is a difficult subject to start. If a course starts with ancient philosophy, besides the challenge of critical thinking, there are cultural issues, translation issues, and the matter of explaining contemporary relevance. All of those issues are avoided with this book. It is a clear description of terms necessary for rational thought studiously written by a master logician for beginning students. It is also a wonderful introduction to Quine.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, but useful
Review: The book is quite basic and introductory. I think it would be useful to many people who want to start thinking philosophically. However, it is boring. Yet, I do like the term "web of belief" a lot. Unfortunately, though, they do not expound upon it much in that book.
Rating:
Summary: Boring, but useful
Review: The book is quite basic and introductory. I think it would be useful to many people who want to start thinking philosophically. However, it is boring. Yet, I do like the term "web of belief" a lot. Unfortunately, though, they do not expound upon it much in that book.
Rating:
Summary: excellent introduction to rational thought
Review: This book points to the underpinnings of rational thought and scientific method. There is no such thing as THE scientific method. But all versions of the scientific method have certain basic elements such as hypothesis, evidence, testing of theory and so forth. This book explains all this and from the position of philosophy that invented the scientific method. The authors show the logic behind rational thought which all adds up to eminent common sense. After reading this book many years ago, it became clear to me how Einstein came up with the theory of relativity. The theory is an explanation of why the Miachelson-Morley experiment failed to find the ether. This book makes a lot of sense. Its a bit pricey, but if you like the philosophy behind rational thinking and scientific method, you might consider the purchase of this book.
Rating:
Summary: excellent introduction to rational thought
Review: This book points to the underpinnings of rational thought and scientific method. There is no such thing as THE scientific method. But all versions of the scientific method have certain basic elements such as hypothesis, evidence, testing of theory and so forth. This book explains all this and from the position of philosophy that invented the scientific method. The authors show the logic behind rational thought which all adds up to eminent common sense. After reading this book many years ago, it became clear to me how Einstein came up with the theory of relativity. The theory is an explanation of why the Miachelson-Morley experiment failed to find the ether. This book makes a lot of sense. Its a bit pricey, but if you like the philosophy behind rational thinking and scientific method, you might consider the purchase of this book.
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