PHIL 222 - Philosophy of Language

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Language is one of humanity’s most distinctive and mysterious faculties. Somehow, many different complex systems of meaningful sounds have arisen around the world, without anyone planning or designing them. This remarkable phenomenon leads to a wide variety of questions: How do words refer to objects in the world? What is meaning? How does communication work? How do metaphors work? In this class we study attempts to answer these and other questions about language by philosophers such as Bertrand Russell, Gottlob Frege, H.P. Grice, Ruth Garrett Millikan, John Searle, and Elisabeth Camp. Students are able to choose from a variety of assignments to explore the course material and demonstrate their understanding. Megan Stotts.

Two 75-minute periods.