A Clarification and Defense of Quine’s Naturalism

Abstract

Abstract Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of W. V. Quine’s philosophy. The current study presents a more comprehensive and sympathetic clarification of Quine’s naturalized epistemology (NE hereafter), and vindicates its main positions by critically responding to the three objections to Quine’s NE: it is the replacement of traditional epistemology (TE hereafter), it is viciously circular, and it is devoid of normative dimension, and to Williamson’s three charges to naturalism (mainly Quine’s brand), finally concludes that the three objections and Williamson’s three charges to Quine’s NE are mainly perhaps caused by misreading or misinterpretation, so all of them failed, and that there are still illuminating, reasonable, and valuable insights in Quine’s NE, which are worthy of further development.