Examination and Axiomatization of Substantive Stripping and Marginalization in W.V.O. Quine’s Naturalized Epistemology and Continuity Thesis

This paper did a Critical Examination and Axiomatization of W. V. O. Quine’s Naturalized Epistemology and Continuity Thesis. Quine's naturalized epistemology upholds a notion of continuity between philosophy and science which is contrived through compressing and narrowing down epistemology by and large in terms of objective or subject-matter, scope and method and confining it into psychology. What stands austere in this effort is that Quine did not identify the continuity by specifying what is part and parcel of them that characterize them to be continuous, rather he trades off one of them of its substance and annexes it into the other to stand them aligned and continuous. This study aims at how Quine made traditional epistemology a second fiddle in the knowledge enterprise. Consequently, this work being qualitative research, employs the methods of content analysis and critique. Thus, it is the conviction and contention of this paper that this is a substantive stripping and marginalization of epistemology which is non-modest and unwarranted. Hence, this study therefore urges and tender a more modest continuity thesis and argue that what Quine identifies as their common subject matter and as objective of study is a mistaken assumption or an over-generalization. We conclude that what is even more austere is his recommendation of the abandonment of the goal of a first philosophy to settle with the objectives of science.