ABSTRACT
Philosophers exhibit a variety of attitudes towards scientific inquiry. Quine and Wittgenstein appear to lie at opposite ends of the spectrum in this regard. Quine is a scientific or scientistic philosopher, Wittgenstein a philosopher of ordinary language who holds that the ‘preoccupation with the method of science’ leads philosophers into ‘complete darkness’ (BB 18). Throughout his career, Quine has attached comparatively little philosophical importance to ordinary or everyday non-scientific language. Recently, however, he has called science ‘a particular language game, in Wittgenstein’s phrase’, one he contrasts with ‘other good language games such as fiction or poetry’ (PTb 20). This conception of science draws Quine much closer to Wittgenstein than many have believed him to be.
