Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Prerequisites
It is recommended that students take one philosophy subject before taking this course.
Course Overview
This course explores the nature of meaning and truth, and their bearing on the use of language in communication. No knowledge of logic or linguistics is presupposed.
Textbooks
Lycan, William G. Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy). 2nd ed. Routledge, 2008. ISBN: 9780415957526.
Martinich, Aloysius P., ed. The Philosophy of Language. 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780195188301.
Grading
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Short exercises (3 pages x 2) | 10% |
| Oral presentation | 10% |
| 1st paper (8 pages) | 25% |
| 1st paper revision | 10% |
| 2nd paper (8 pages) | 35% |
| Verbal participation | 10% |
Calendar
| LEC # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | |
| 2 | Meaning and reference | |
| 3 | Descriptions | |
| 4 | Names and descriptions | |
| 5 | Direct reference | Exercise 1 due |
| 6 | What is meaning? | |
| 7 | Empiricist theories | |
| 8 | Psychological theories | |
| 9 | Truth-conditional theories | |
| 10 | Context sensitivity | First paper due |
| 11 | The essential indexical | |
| 12 | The Kripkenstein paradox | |
| 13 | Naturalistic reduction | |
| 14 | Speech acts | |
| 15 | Illocutionary force | |
| 16 | Presupposition | |
| 17 | Assertion | |
| 18 | Implicature | |
| 19 | Attitudes, the hidden indexical theory | |
| 20 | Attitudes, the implicature theory | Exercise 2 due |
| 21 | Attitudes, the pragmatic theory | |
| 22 | Non-literal speech | |
| 23 | Making believe | |
| 24 | Semantic pretense and attitude ascriptions | |
| 25 | Pragmatic pretense and Frege problems | |
| 26 | Humpty Dumpty, malaprop, etc. | Second paper due |