00386 - Philosophy of Language

Learning outcomes

Knowledge of foundational issues of the nature of reference and of meaning in the contemporary debate in analytic philosophy of language.

Course contents

This course aims to provide an introduction to the topics of meaning and reference in contemporary philosophy of language. By "contemporary philosophy of language" it is here meant the philosophy of language of the so-called analytic tradition (http://www.iep.utm.edu/analytic/) which has among this representative founders Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein. The course is an introductory since it presupposes no previous acquaintance with the field, but it is not, however, an elementary course, since some of the topics are difficult and the issues reach far and deep into other areas of philosophy, such as logic, the philosophy of mind, epistemology, metaphysics.

The course will take us through the work of the early
authors (Mill, Frege, Russell, Carnap) up to the recent debate on the causal theory of reference (Donnellan, Kripke, Putnam).

Readings/Bibliography

Academic Year 2016/2017Course contents

This course aims to provide an introduction to the topics of meaning and reference in contemporary philosophy of language. By "contemporary philosophy of language" it is here meant the philosophy of language of the so-called analytic tradition (http://www.iep.utm.edu/analytic/) which has among this representative founders Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein. The course is an introductory since it presupposes no previous acquaintance with the field, but it is not, however, an elementary course, since some of the topics are difficult and the issues reach far and deep into other areas of philosophy, such as logic, the philosophy of mind, epistemology, metaphysics.

The course will take us through the work of the early
authors (Mill, Frege, Russell, Carnap) up to the recent debate on the causal theory of reference (Donnellan, Kripke, Putnam).

Readings/Bibliography

All the texts will be available on the elearning service.

Meaning and Reference (I): The basis of the debate

J.S. Mill: A System of Logic, Ch. 1 e 2

G. Frege: ‘Uber Sinn und Bedeutung’

G. Frege: ‘Letter to Jourdain’ (optional)

R. Carnap: Meaning and Necessity, Ch.1

Meaning and Reference (II): Descriptions

B. Russell: ‘On Denoting’

B. Russell: Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, cap. 16 (optional)

Russell: ‘Knowledge by Acquaintance and Knowledge by Description’ (optional)

W.V.O. Quine: ‘On What There Is’

P. Strawson: ‘On Referring’

K. Donnellan: ‘Reference and Definite Descriptions’

Meaning and Reference (III): Proper names

J. Searle: ‘Proper Names’

S. Kripke: Naming and Necessity (excerpts)

K. Donnellan: ‘Proper Names and Identifying Descriptions’

J. Searle: Intentionality, Ch. 9

E. Evans: ‘The Causal Theory of Names’ (optional)

Meaning and Reference (IV): General terms

H. Putnam: ‘Meaning and Reference’ (or ‘The Meaning of Meaning’)

S. P. Schwartz: ‘Putnam on Artifacts’ (opzionale)

D.H. Mellor: ‘Natural Kinds’ (opzionale)

J. Searle: Intentionality, cap 8

Textbooks

The course does not involve textbooks. The following is a list of books that could be useful:

William G. Lycan Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction, II
ed., London: Routledge, 2008.

Beginning Logic by E. J. Lemmon (every edition is fine)

Martinich’s anthology: The Philosophy of Language, Third Edition, Oxford University Press, 1996.

Teaching methods

Together with the standard classroom lectures, I will employ quizzies on the elearning system and I will experiment the teaching method of peer instruction.

Assessment methods

Paper and discussion during exam.

Teaching tools

Slides, elearning and Kahoot software for the peer instruction method.

Office hours

See the website of Sebastiano Moruzzi