28002 - Philosophy of Language (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student achieves an average competence in the philosophy of contemporary language, with the in-depth study of a specific topic and the guided reading of a classic.

Course contents

Reasoning and logic

The course will deal with the main philosophical theories on reasoning with particular attention to deductive reasoning.

The course is divided into two parts:

Part 1) nature of reasoning and epistemology of logic;

Part 2) anti-exceptionalist approaches to logic.

Readings/Bibliography

Selectiona from the following works:

**Part 1**

Quine, W. V. (1936). Truth by Convention. In Journal of Symbolic Logic. pp. 77-106.

Quine, Willard van Orman (1960). Carnap and logical truth. Synthese 12 (4):350--74.

Putnam, Hilary (1968). Is Logic Empirical? Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science 5.

Haack, Susan (1996). Deviant Logic, Fuzzy Logic: Beyond the Formalism. University of Chicago Press.[selezioni]

BonJour, Laurence (1998). In Defense of Pure Reason. Cambridge University Press. [selections]

Boghossian, Paul (2000). Knowledge of Logic. In Paul Boghossian & Christopher Peacocke (eds.), New Essays on the A Priori.

Boghossian, Paul A. (2001). How Are Objective Epistemic Reasons Possible? Philosophical Studies 106 (1):1-40.

Wright, Crispin (2001). On Basic Logical Knowledge: Reflections on Paul Boghossian’s “How Are Objective Epistemic Reasons Possible?‘. Philosophical Studies 106 (1-2):41 - 85.

Wright, Crispin (2004). Intuition, entitlement and the epistemology of logical laws. Dialectica 58 (1):155–175.

Schechter J (2010) The Reliability Challenge and the Epistemology of Logic. Philosophical Perspectives, 24: 437–64.

Russell G (2015) The Justification of the Basic Laws of Logic. Journal of Philosophical Logic 44: 793–803.

Wright C (2018) Logical Non-Cognitivism. Philosophical Issues, 28: 425–50.

Steinberger F (2020, Winter) The Normative Status of Logic. In: EN Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Online: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/logic-normative/

Warren J (2020) Shadows of Syntax. Oxford: OUP. [selections]

Sher G (2021) Invariance as a Basis for Necessity and Laws. Philosophical Studies. Online first: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-021-01632-1

**Parte **

da Costa NCA & JRB Arenhart (2018) Full-blooded Anti-exceptionalism about Logic. Australasian Journal of Logic, 15: 362–80.

Hanna R (2006) Rationality and Logic. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [selezioni]

Harman G (1986). Change in View: Principles of reasoning. Cambridge: MIT Press. [selections]

Hjortland OT (2017) Anti-Exceptionalism about Logic. Philosophical Studies, 174: 631–58.

Martin B & OT Hjortland (2021) Logical Predictivism. Journal of Philosophical Logic, 50: 285–318.

Martin B & OT Hjortland (Forthcoming) Evidence in Logic. In M Lasonen-Aarnio & C Littlejohn (eds.), Routledge Handbook for Philosophy of Evidence. London: Routledge.

Payette G & N Wyatt (2018) How Do Logics Explain? Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 96: 157–67.

Priest G (2014) Revising Logic. In P Rush (ed.), The Metaphysics of Logic (pp. 211–23). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Priest G (2016) Logical Disputes and the a Priori. Logique et Analyse, 59: 347–66.

Quine WVO (1951). Two Dogmas of Empiricism. Philosophical Review, 60: 20–43.

Quine WVO (1951). What Price Bivalence? Journal of Philosophy, 78: 90–5.

Resnik MD (1985) Logic: Normative or Descriptive? The Ethics of Belief or a Branch of Psychology? Philosophy of Science, 52: 221–38.

Resnik MD (1999) Against Logical Realism. History and Philosophy of Logic, 20: 181–94.

Rossberg M & S Shapiro (2021) Logic and Science: Science and logic. Synthese. Online first: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-021-03076-w

Russell B (1957). On Scientific Method in Philosophy. In Mysticism and Logic (pp. 93–119). New York, NY: Doubleday.

Russell G (2017). Logic isn’t Normative. Inquiry, 63: 371–88.

Williamson T (2017) Semantic Paradoxes and Abductive Methodology. In B Armour-Garb (ed.), The Relevance of the Liar (pp. 325–46). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wright C (1986) Inventing Logical Necessity. In J Butterfield (ed.), Language, Mind, and Logic (pp. 187–209). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars, peer instruction method e community of inquiry method (if the class is small).

Assessment methods

Continuous assessment with online comprehension tests and peer instruction method. Paper to be written by the end of the course.

The exam will consist in the elaboration of a written essay. The length of the paper is diversified depending on whether you are attending or not.

• ATTENDANTS short essay: at least 1500 words and no more than 3000 words (all inclusive: name, surname, serial number, course of study, title, bibliography.)
• NON-ATTENDANTS long essay: at least 3000 words and not more than 4000 words (all inclusive: name, surname, serial number, course of study, title, bibliography.

I will use these verification criteria to determine the following evaluation thresholds:

30 and praise excellent proof, both in knowledge and in the critical and expressive articulation.

30 excellent test, complete knowledge, well articulated and correctly expressed, with some critical ideas.


27-29 good test, comprehensive and satisfactory knowledge, substantially correct expression.


24-26 discrete test, knowledge present in the substantial points, but not exhaustive and not always correctly articulated.


21-23 sufficient proof, knowledge present in a sometimes superficial way, but the general thread is understood. Short and often inappropriate and incomplete expression and articulation.


18-21 superficial knowledge, the common thread is not understood with continuity. The expression and the articulation of the discourse also have significant gaps.


<18 insufficient evidence, absent or very incomplete knowledge, lack of orientation in the discipline, defective and inappropriate expression. Examination not passed.

Teaching tools

Elearning, slide and handouts, Wooclap and Perusall (http://persuall.com) software for peer instruction.

Links to further information

https://virtuale.unibo.it/mod/resource/view.php?id=695635

Office hours

See the website of Sebastiano Moruzzi