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This page includes a calendar of lecture topics.
Prerequisite
No knowledge of logic or linguistics is presupposed. One philosophy subject is the only prerequisite.
Overview
We will cover these major topics:
- Sense and Reference, Names and Descriptions
- Pragmatics
- Propositional Attitudes
- Truth
- Rule Following
Texts
Martinich, Aloysius P., ed. The Philosophy of Language. 4th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN: 0195135431.
Kripke, Saul. Naming and Necessity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980. ISBN: 0674598466.
Assignments
There are four assessments for this course: one comprehension exercise (due in week four); one short critical note (due in week eight); and two short papers (due in week twelve and week fifteen).
Grading
Grading criteria.
| ASSIGNMENTS |
PERCENTAGES |
| Assignment One, Comprehension Exercise |
10% |
| Assignment Two, Critical Note |
10% |
| Assignment Three, Short Paper |
40% |
| Assignment Four, Short Paper |
40% |
Calendar
Course calendar.
| WEEK # |
TOPICS |
KEY DATES |
| Section One: Sense and Reference, Names and Descriptions |
| 1 |
Frege: On Sense and Nominatum |
|
| 2 |
Russell: On Denoting
Russell: Descriptions |
|
| 3 |
Quine: Two Dogmas of Empiricism |
|
| 4-5 |
Kripke: Naming and Necessity
Putnam: Meaning and Reference |
Assignment one due in week #4 |
| 6 |
Strawson: On Referring
Donnellan: Reference and Definite Descriptions
Kripke: Speaker's Reference and Semantic Reference |
|
| 7 |
von Fintel: Would you believe it? The King of France is Back!
Yablo: Non-Catastropic Presupposition Failure
Perry: Problem of the Essential Indexical
Lewis: Attitudes De Dicto and De Se |
|
| Section Two: Pragmatics |
| 8 |
Austin: Performative Utterances
Grice: Logic and Conversation |
Assignment two due |
| 9 |
Lewis: Scorekeeping in a Language Game
Langton: Speech Acts and Unspeakable Acts
Langton and West: Scorekeeping in a Pornographic Language Game |
|
| 10 |
Lewis: Languages and Language |
|
| Section Three: Propositional Attitudes |
| 11 |
Frege: On Sense and Nominatum
Davidson: On Saying That |
|
| 12 |
Kripke: A Puzzle About Belief
Salmon: How to Become a Millian Heir |
Assignment three due |
| 13 |
Crimmins and Perry: The Prince and the Phone Booth
Saul: Substitution and Simple Sentences |
|
| Section Four: Truth |
| 14 |
Frege: On Sense and Nominatum
Tarski: The Semantic Conception of Truth, and the Foundations of Semantics
Stoljar: The Deflationary Theory of Truth |
|
| Section Five: Rule Following |
| 15 |
Kripke: On Rules and Private Language
Millikan: Truth Rules, Hoverflies, and the Kripke-Wittgenstein Paradox
Holton: Meaning and Rule Following |
Assignment four due |