Men of Ideas Season 1 Episode 9 The Ideas of Quine ( Air Date 1978-03-16 ) Genre Documentary, Talk category. Overview "Willard Van Orman Quine of Harvard stands as one of the modern world’s most eminent philosophers. In this rare interview conducted by world-renowned author and professor Bryan Magee, Quine discusses his earlier view of himself as a mathematical logician, and his later interest in philosophy in a more general sense—specifically, regarding metaphysics and the philosophy of language.".