Mar 28, 2024  
Catalogue 2020-2021 
    
Catalogue 2020-2021 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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PHIL 222 - Philosophy of Language

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Philosophy of language is the study of linguistic meaning. What is the meaning of a word or sentence, and how is it related to the world that we use language to describe? How is meaning related to the thoughts that individual speakers aim to express with language? How is it related to the communities that give rise to a language and use it to communicate? These are all very difficult questions that philosophers have tried to answer by looking at small and specific examples of language that admit of easier answers. In this course, we are going to follow this methodology and examine the large questions by looking at smaller questions like the meaning of the words “is”, “the”, “exist”, “Jackie Chan” and “I”. We look at the range of answers to these questions and their implications for philosophy at large, particularly as to how linguistic meaning and speaker intentions play a role in determining laws and hate speech. Barry Lam.

Prerequisite(s): One previous course in Philosophy.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS



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