PHIL 222 - Philosophy of Language

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Language is our primary means of expressing our thoughts. Language is also one of our primary means of representing the world. As a result, philosophers in the analytic tradition have attempted to gain a better understanding of standard philosophical issues through the study of how we understand and use language to express our thoughts, communicate, and represent the world. We will look at the philosophical study of meaning and truth as well as the philosophical problems that such studies purport to illuminate, solve, or dissolve. We will discuss referential theories of meaning originating with Frege and Russell, use-theories of meaning associated with Strawson and Austin, Grice’s theory of implicature, Tarski and truth-conditional theories of meaning, and the theory of direct reference. Philosophical problems will include ontology and essence, knowledge of objects, the problem of perception, freedom and determination, and necessity and a priority. Mr. Lam.