Quine on Language and Science or the Roots of Redemption. [Book Review: Michel Olivier, Quine, Paris, Belles Lettres, 2015]

Willard Van Orman Quine is a towering figure in the history of analytic philosophy. In a recent French monograph devoted to the American philosopher, Michel Olivier proposed a reading that was not merely a classical introduction, limited to a summary of obvious sources available in English. Instead, he seriously considered relatively marginal elements of classical readings, such as Quine’s American pragmatist heritage, his possible links with Charles S. Peirce, and finally: the radicalism of his approach. The Olivier text is not only a valuable introduction for that portion of the French-speaking audience not normally interested in analytic philosophy and that needs to be guided through the sometimes vertiginous universe of Quine and those who followed him, but also proposes a new and original interpretation of his work.