24.251 | Fall 2011 | Undergraduate

Introduction to Philosophy of Language

Pages

Assignment examples are courtesy of anonymous MIT students, and are used with permission.

TOPICS ASSIGNMENTS STUDENT EXAMPLES
Comprehension exercise 1 (PDF) (PDF)
First paper (PDF) (PDF)
Comprehension exercise 2 (PDF) (PDF)
Second paper (PDF) (PDF)

LEC # TOPICS LECTURE NOTES
1 Introduction (PDF)
2 Meaning and reference (PDF)
3 Descriptions (PDF)
4 Names and descriptions (PDF)
5 Direct reference (PDF)
6 What is meaning? (PDF)
7 Empiricist theories (PDF)
8 Psychological theories (PDF)
9 Truth-conditional theories (PDF)
10 Context sensitivity (PDF)
11 The essential indexical (PDF)
12 The Kripkenstein paradox (PDF)
13 Naturalistic reduction (PDF)
14 Speech acts (PDF)
15 Illocutionary force (PDF)
16 Presupposition (PDF)
17 Assertion (PDF)
18 Implicature (PDF)
19 Attitudes, the hidden indexical theory (PDF)
20 Attitudes, the implicature theory (PDF)
21 Attitudes, the pragmatic theory (PDF)
22 Non-literal speech (PDF)
23 Making believe  
24 Semantic pretense and attitude ascriptions (PDF)
25 Pragmatic pretense and Frege problems (PDF)
26 Humpty Dumpty, malaprop, etc.  

Readings

[Lycan] = Lycan, William G. Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy). 2nd ed. Routledge, 2008. ISBN: 9780415957526. 

[Martinich] = Martinich, Aloysius P., ed. The Philosophy of Language. 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780195188301.

LEC # TOPICS READINGS
1 Introduction (no readings)
2 Meaning and reference

“Introduction.” Chapter 1 in [Lycan]. 

Frege, Gottlob. “On Sense and Nominatum.” Chapter 14 in [Martinich].

3 Descriptions

“Definite Descriptions.” Chapter 2 in [Lycan].

Russell, Bertrand. “On Denoting.” Chapter 15 in [Martinich].

4 Names and descriptions

“Proper Names, The Description Theory.” Chapter 3 in [Lycan]. 

Russell, Bertrand. “Descriptions.” Chapter 16 in [Martinich].

5 Direct reference

“Proper Names, Direct Reference.” Chapter 4 in [Lycan]. 

Kripke, Saul. “Naming and Necessity.” Chapter 21 in [Martinich].

6 What is meaning?

“Traditional Theories of Meaning.” Chapter 5 in [Lycan]. 

Frege, Gottlob. “The Thought: A Logical Inquiry.” Chapter 1 in [Martinich].

7 Empiricist theories

“Verificationism.” Chapter 8 in [Lycan]. 

Hempel, Carl G. “Empiricist Criteria of Cognitive Significance.” Chapter 2 in [Martinich].

Quine, W. V. “Two Dogmas of Empiricism.” Chapter 3 in [Martinich].

8 Psychological theories

“Psychological Theories.” Chapter 7 in [Lycan].

Grice, H. P. “Meaning.” Chapter 6 in [Martinich].

9 Truth-conditional theories

“Truth-conditional Theories.” Chapters 9 and 10 in [Lycan].

Davidson, Donald. “Truth and Meaning.” Chapter 7 in [Martinich].

Lewis, David. “Languages and Language.” Chapter 45 in [Martinich].

10 Context sensitivity

“Semantic Pragmatics.” Chapter 11 in [Lycan].

Kaplan, David. “Dthat.” Chapter 25 in [Martinich].

11 The essential indexical

Kaplan, David. “On the Logic of Demonstratives.” Chapter 26 in [Martinich].

Perry, John. “The Problem of the Essential Indexical.” Chapter 27 in [Martinich].

12 The Kripkenstein paradox Kripke, Saul. “On Rules and Private Language.” Chapter 43 in [Martinich].
13 Naturalistic reduction Millikan, Ruth Garrett. “Truth Rules, Hoverflies, and the Kripke-Wittgenstein Paradox.” Chapter 44 in [Martinich].
14 Speech acts

“Speech Acts and Illocutionary Force.” Chapter 12 in [Lycan].

Austin, J. L. “Performative Utterances.” Chapter 8 in [Martinich].

15 Illocutionary force

Searle, John R. “The Structure of Illocutionary Acts.” Chapter 9 in [Martinich].

———. “A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts.” Chapter 10 in [Martinich].

16 Presupposition

Stalnaker, Robert. “Presuppositions.” Journal of Philosophical Logic 2, no. 4 (1973): 447–57.

Fintel, Kai von. “Would You Believe It? The King of France is Back! (Presuppositions and Truth-Value Intuitions).” In Descriptions and Beyond. Edited by Marga Reimer and Anne Bezuidenhout. Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 315–41. ISBN: 9780199270521. [Preview with Google Books]

17 Assertion

Stalnaker, Robert. “Assertion.” Chapter 13 in [Martinich].

Yablo, Stephen. “Non-Catastrophic Presupposition Failure.” In Content and Modality: Themes From The Philosophy of Robert Stalnaker. Edited by Judith Thomson and Alex Byrne. Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 164–90. ISBN: 9780199282807.

18 Implicature

“Implicative Relations.” Chapter 13 in [Lycan].

Grice, H. P. “Logic and Conversation.” Chapter 11 in [Martinich].

19 Attitudes, the hidden indexical theory

Crimmins, Mark, and John Perry. “The Prince and the Phone Booth: Reporting Puzzling Beliefs.” The Journal of Philosophy 86, no. 12 (1989): 685–711.

Saul, Jennifer M. “Substitution and Simple Sentences.” Analysis 57, no. 2 (1997): 102–8.

20 Attitudes, the implicature theory

Braun, David. “Understanding Belief Reports.” The Philosophical Review 107, no. 4 (1998): 555–95.

Salmon, Nathan. “How to Become a Millian Heir.” Noûs 23, no. 2 (1989): 211–20.

21 Attitudes, the pragmatic theory Stalnaker, Robert. “Semantics for Belief.” Chapter 33 in [Martinich].
22 Non-literal speech

“Metaphor.” Chapter 14 in [Lycan].

Davidson, Donald. “What Metaphors Mean.” Chapter 34 in [Martinich].

23 Making believe Walton, Kendall. “Metaphor and Prop Oriented Make-Believe.” European Journal of Philosophy 1, no. 1 (1993): 39–57.
24 Semantic pretense and attitude ascriptions Crimmins, Mark. “Hesperus and Phosphorous: Sense, Pretense, and Reference.” Chapter 36 in [Martinich].
25 Pragmatic pretense and  Frege problems

Kroon, Frederick. “Descriptivism, Pretense, and the Frege-Russell Problems.” Chapter 37 in [Martinich].

Walton, Kendall. “Existence As Metaphor?” In Empty Names, Fiction, and the Puzzles of Non-existence. Edited by Anthony Everett and Thomas Hofweber. CLSI Publications, 2000, pp. 69–94. ISBN: 9781575862538.

26 Humpty Dumpty, malaprop, etc. Davidson, Donald. “A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs.” Chapter 40 in [Martinich].

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Prerequisites

It is recommended that students take one philosophy subject before taking this course.

Course Overview

This course explores the nature of meaning and truth, and their bearing on the use of language in communication. No knowledge of logic or linguistics is presupposed.

Textbooks

Lycan, William G. Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy). 2nd ed. Routledge, 2008. ISBN: 9780415957526. 

Martinich, Aloysius P., ed. The Philosophy of Language. 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780195188301.

Grading

ACTIVITIES PERCENTAGES
Short exercises (3 pages x 2) 10%
Oral presentation 10%
1st paper (8 pages) 25%
1st paper revision 10%
2nd paper (8 pages) 35%
Verbal participation 10%

Calendar

LEC # TOPICS KEY DATES
1 Introduction  
2 Meaning and reference  
3 Descriptions  
4 Names and descriptions  
5 Direct reference Exercise 1 due
6 What is meaning?  
7 Empiricist theories  
8 Psychological theories  
9 Truth-conditional theories  
10 Context sensitivity First paper due
11 The essential indexical  
12 The Kripkenstein paradox  
13 Naturalistic reduction  
14 Speech acts  
15 Illocutionary force  
16 Presupposition  
17 Assertion  
18 Implicature  
19 Attitudes, the hidden indexical theory  
20 Attitudes, the implicature theory Exercise 2 due
21 Attitudes, the pragmatic theory  
22 Non-literal speech  
23 Making believe  
24 Semantic pretense and attitude ascriptions  
25 Pragmatic pretense and Frege problems  
26 Humpty Dumpty, malaprop, etc. Second paper due

Course Info

Instructor
As Taught In
Fall 2011
Learning Resource Types
Lecture Notes