Word and Object, philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine's most famous work, expands on ideas in From a Logical Point of View (1953) and reformulates earlier arguments like his attack on the analytic–synthetic distinction from "Two Dogmas of Empiricism". It introduces the thought experiment of radical translation and the related concept of indeterminacy of translation.
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Word and Object in the context of Neurath's boat
Neurath's boat (or Neurath's ship) is a simile used in anti-foundational accounts of knowledge, especially in the philosophy of science. It was first formulated by Otto Neurath. It is based in part on the Ship of Theseus which, however, is standardly used to illustrate other philosophical questions, to do with problems of identity. It was popularised by Willard Van Orman Quine in Word and Object (1960).
Neurath used the simile in several occasions, first in "Problems in War Economics" (1913). In "Anti-Spengler" (1921), he wrote:
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