Philosophy of Language

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the philosophy of language—that is, the study of representation, meaning, truth, communication, and the relationships between them. In the past century, the philosophy of language has been one of the most influential branches of philosophy, both in terms of its influence on philosophy more generally and its influence on other disciplines. Within philosophy, it has shaped the terms of debate in virtually every other subfield. Outside philosophy, it has provided insight into human cognition and social interactions. This course will survey a series of classic topics while providing students with a toolbox of concepts and techniques common to the discipline.

Work for the class consists in weekly problem sets and a take-home final exam (details on the syllabus). Most readings for the class are drawn from the textbook you can find below. Materials for the course are password protected due to copyright concerns. The user name and password can be found on copies of the syllabus that I handed out on the first day of class, or on Blackboard. Failing that, contact me if you are having trouble.

Syllabus

Syllabus

Textbook/Lecture Notes

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language

Many of the readings for classes, as you can see on the syllabus, are drawn from this textbook. The book is basically an organized series of lecture notes with some additional accompanying material. My lectures in class will closely follow the chapters of the book. Consequently you should make use of the book in whatever way enhances your ability to pick up the material from class. You could, for example, either read the assignments before class (especially if you find you usually have questions about the material), or you could read it after class as you find it necessary to refresh yourself on the lecture material. It's up to you.

Handouts

• Handout 1, Use/Mention
• Handout 2, Frege's First Puzzle
• Handout 3, "Thoughts", Frege's Second Puzzle, Intensional Contexts
• Handout 4, Frege on Subjectivity and Objectivity, Background for Russell
• Handout 5, Gray's Elegy and Russell's Three Puzzles
• Handout 6, The New Theory of Denoting and Its Applications
• Handout 7, Themes from Russell
• Handout 8, Background for Grice
• Handout 9, Grice's Main Analysis
• Handout 10, Propositional Content I: the Proposition and Truth-Conditional Content
• Handout 11, Propositional Content II: Fregeans, Russellians, and "Fineness of Grain"
• Handout 12, Compositional Semantics I: Productivity, Compositionality, Syntax
• Handout 13, Compositional Semantics II: Extensions, Intensions
• Handout 14, Compositional Semantics III: A Toy Compositional Theory
• Handout 15, Semantics of Names I: Descriptivism, Semantics and Metasemantics
• Handout 16, Semantics of Names II: Kripke's Modal and Epistemic Arguments
• Handout 17, Semantics of Names III: Kripke's Semantic Argument, Millianism, The Metasemantics of Names
• Handout 18, Special Classes of Propositions and their Relations
• Handout 19, Externalism about Linguistic and Mental Content
• Handout 20, Grice on Implicature

Articles

• Sense and Reference, Frege
• On Denoting, Russell
• Meaning, Grice
• Naming and Necessity (II), Kripke
• Meaning and Reference, Putnam
• Logic and Conversation, Grice

Problem Sets/Review Sheet

• Problem Set Grading Policy
• Problem Set 1
• Problem Set 2
• Problem Set 3
• Problem Set 4
• Midterm Review
• Problem Set 5
• Problem Set 6
• Problem Set 7

Plagiarism

You're responsible for knowing what plagiarism is. Any evidence of academic dishonesty will be relentlessly pursued. Confirmation of dishonesty results in an "F" for the course.

Disabilities

If you have a disability that requires special testing accommodations or other classroom modifications, you need to notify both your TA and the Disability Resources and Services no later than the 2nd week of the term. You may be asked to provide documentation of your disability to determine the appropriateness of accommodations. To notify Disability Resources and Services, call 648-7890 (Voice or TTD) to schedule an appointment. The Office is located in 140 William Pitt Union.