Rule-Following and Realism

Rating:
Summary: semantics
Review: Dr. Ebbs studied under Quine and is knowlegeable about the Quine -Carnap Briefwecksel. His Wittgensteinian approach to to semantics and the related internalist/externalist meaning criteria controversy of Putnam's "Twin Earth" thought experiment is informed by a deep knowledge of the formal semantics of Frege,Tarski and Carnap;even though,like the later Wittgenstein he is ultimately much more hostile to scientific naturalism than were the logical empiricists.

Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: This book provides a both a sensible and lucid exposition of issues in the history of 20th century analytic philosophy. The most interesting part of the book for me was the second part of the book on the analytic-synthetic distinction (where Ebbs a very comprehensive critical survey of the views of Carnap, Quine and Putnam). Here, Ebbs provides an interesting and perceptive diagnosis of why Quine's rejection of analyticity ultimately begs the very question (viz., analyticity) at issue. Overall, this book serves as a useful resource for analytic philosophers, suitable for either an upper-level undergraduate or graduate course. Its greatest merit is its clear presentation of difficult problems in philosophy of logic and mathematics, philosophy of language, and epistemology.

Rating:
Summary: First-rate work in the philosophy of language
Review: This is a lucid exposition and critique of the state of the art in the philosophy of language--well-suited for a course in the subject provided you do some backfilling. The critique is launched from the participant perspective and the conviction that one should furnish a picture of how words refer to things and that a theory that seeks to specify necessary and sufficient conditions of reference is doomed to fail. The book is scrupulously clear and fair to the point of being austere. Only occasionally would one surmise that the author is a superb pianist, a fine downhill skier, and a prince of a fellow.