Quine and Tarski on Nominalism

This chapter contains a detailed study of the nominalistic engagement of Quine and Tarski up to 1953 (the date of an important conference on “Nominalism and Platonism in Contemporary Logic” organized by Beth in Amersfoort). Through the use of the Quine archive and some other important sources it reconstructs the dialectic of caution and engagement that characterized the approach to nominalism of these two giants of analytic philosophy. In the process it also sheds light on Beth’s contribution to the discussion on nominalism vs. Platonism in logic.