Working from Within: The Nature and Development of Quine's Naturalism

Working from Within

Author	Sander Verhaegh
Cover artist	Marjorie Boynton Quine
Country	United States
Language	English
Subjects	History of philosophy Willard Van Orman Quine Naturalism
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publication date	2018
Pages	218
ISBN	978-0-190-91315-1
OCLC	1039630975
Dewey Decimal	191
LC Class	B945.Q54
Website	Oxford Academic

Working from Within: The Nature and Development of Quine's Naturalism is a 2018 book by Dutch philosopher and historian of analytic philosophy Sander Verhaegh. Released at a time in which there was increasing work done on Willard Van Orman Quine in the history of analytic philosophy, the book was the first to provide a full account of the historical development of his naturalism. It was also the first book to use the extensive archive materials on Quine at Harvard University's Houghton Library.

In the book, Verhaegh argues that Quine's naturalism can be best characterised as a commitment to "working from within" and a rejection of transcendental viewpoints. He also argues that the development of Quine's naturalism can be better understood by examining the obstacles that Quine faced writing an unpublished book entitled Sign and Object and the ways in which he overcame them. The book was academically well-received, gaining especial praise for the quality of its historical scholarship and use of archival sources, but also faced some critiques regarding its interpretations and relevancy to contemporary philosophy.