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Philosophy of Language

Module title	Philosophy of Language
Module code	PHL2018
Academic year	2019/0
Credits	15
Module staff	Dr Sam Wilkinson (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	30

Module description

This module will introduce you to one of the dominant contemporary traditions in philosophy. The Anglo-American analytic tradition places great emphasis upon understanding how language works, seeing the possibility of speaking meaningfully as an essential precursor to any philosophical endeavour. The module will provide you with a grounding in the basic philosophical approaches to meaning and reference, and in the canonical debates on these topics over the last hundred years, including the work of Frege, Quine, the verificationists, and the Ordinary Language philosophers.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module seeks to familiarise you with the central place that philosophy of language occupies in contemporary analytic philosophy, with the influential positions that have been adopted by major figures in the field, and with the key points of the debates between them. You will gain a thorough overview of the philosophy of language, and the grounding necessary for more advanced study in analytic philosophy.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Develop an understanding of the subject matter, concerns, and methodology of philosophy of language.
• 2. Critically analyse the notions of meaning and reference.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Understand the central position of philosophy of language in contemporary analytic philosophy.
• 4. Apply the tools of conceptual and linguistic analysis in all areas of philosophy.
• 5. Evaluate the claims made by other philosophical disciplines and traditions which hinge on theories of meaning or language.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Communicate complex ideas in clear and precise written and verbal form.
• 7. Construct, evaluate, and criticise arguments.

Syllabus plan

Week 1: Introduction to the Module; the various senses of “meaning”; the nature of analytic

philosophy; the “linguistic turn” and its motivations.

Week 2: Gottlob Frege on Sense and Reference

Reading: Frege, “On Sense and Nominatum”; Frege, “The Thought: A Logical Inquiry”

Week 3: Bertrand Russell and the Theory of Definite Descriptions

Reading: Russell, “Descriptions”; John Searle, “Proper Names and Intentionality”

Week 4: Causal Theories of Reference; Kripke and Putnam

Reading: Saul Kripke, “Naming and Necessity” (extracts); Gareth Evans, “The Causal Theory

of Names”; Hilary Putnam, Reason, Truth and History, ch.1

Week 5: Verificationism and Meaning; Logical Positivism and Dummett

Reading: C.G. Hempel, “Empiricist Criteria of Cognitive Significance”; A.J. Ayer, Language,

Truth, and Logic (Penguin), chs.1&3

Week 6: Scepticism about Meaning 1; Quine on Analyticity and Meaning Holism

Reading: W.V.O. Quine, “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”; Quine, “Translation and Meaning”

Week 7: Scepticism about Meaning 2; “Kripkenstein” on Rule-following

Reading: Kripke, “On Rules and Private Language”; Ludwig Wittgensein, Philosophical

Investigations §§ 138-242; Marie McGinn, Wittgenstein and the Philosophical

Investigations,ch.3.

Week 8: Meaning as Intention 1; Speech Acts

Reading: J.L. Austin, “Performative Utterances”; Searle, “A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts”

Week 9: Meaning as Intention 2; Gricean Implicature

Reading: Paul Grice, “Logic and Conversation”

Week 10: Meaning and Truth; Davidson and Tarski

Reading: Donald Davidson, “Truth and Meaning”; Davidson, “Belief and the Basis of

Meaning”

Week 11: Meaning and Metaphor

Reading: Davidson, “What Metaphors Mean”; Roger White, The Structure of Metaphor,

extracts.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	22	Eleven two-hour lecture/discussions.
Guided Independent Study	40	Assigned readings associated with
Guided Independent Study	44	Preparation of Assigned Essay
Guided Independent Study	44	Private Study for Exam

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Class discussion	Weekly	1-7	Oral

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
50	50	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	50	2,000 words	1-7	Written feedback
Examination	50	2 hours	1-7	Written feedback

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay	Essay (2000 words)	1-7	August/September reassessment Period
Examination	Exam (2 hours)	1-7	August/September reassessment period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

The majority of the course readings may be found in A. P. Martinich (2010), The Philosophy of Language (International 5th Edition). An e-copy of this text will be available through the library.

Two useful textbooks are William Lycan (2008), Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction and Alexander Miller (2007), Philosophy of Language.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE

Lecture slides and any readings not found in the Martinich volume will be available on the module’s ELE page.

Key words search

Philosophy, Language, Reference, Meaning, Names

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
NQF level (module)	5
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	19/6/2013