Instructor: Gillian Russell
Class Times: 10-11.30am TTH
Class Location: Duncker 1
Office Hours: Tues 4-5pm or by appointment
My office: 206 Busch Hall
Email: grussell - at - artsci - wustl - dot - edu
Course Website: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~grussell/Phil306.html
This is an upper-level undergraduate course in the philosophy of language. We will focus on four main topics: (1) the semantics of descriptions, (2) names and externalism, (3) truth and meaning (4) realism about meaning. Many of the readings can be found in the main textbook for the course: Martinich's collection Philosophy of Language (4th edition). Other readings will be placed on reserve in the library. I will also be posting lecture notes, handouts and some extra material on the course webpage.
Some additional recommendations:
Language, Truth and Logic - A. J. Ayer
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus - L. Wittgenstein
Philosophical Investigations - L. Wittgenstein
Naming and Necessity - S. Kripke
Prerequisites: A course in logic would be extremely helpful but is not required. You must be prepared to engage with some difficult contemporary material.
"Of Words", John Locke (M)
Chapter 1 of The Language Instinct, Stephen Pinker (R)
"Propositions'', Richard Cartwright
"Logic and Conversation'', Paul Grice (M)
"On Sense and Nominatum'', Gottlob Frege (M)
"The Thought'' Gottlob Frege, available online at http://www.jstor.org/view/00264423/di984397/98p0380m/0. (You might need to be on campus to access J-stor papers.)
"On Denoting'', Bertrand Russell (M)
"Descriptions'', Bertrand Russell (M)
"On Referring'', P. F. Strawson (M)
Chapter 1 of The Varieties of Reference, Gareth Evans (R)
"Reference and Definite Descriptions'', Keith Donnellan (M)
"Speaker's Reference and Semantic Reference'', Saul Kripke
"Of Names'', Mill (M)
Naming and Necessity (M), Saul Kripke
"Proper Names and Intentionality", John Searle (M)
"The Modal Argument: Wide Scope and Rigidified Descriptions'', Scott Soames, available online at http://www.jstor.org/view/00294624/di020007/02p0002i/0?currentResult=00294624%2bdi020007%2b02p0002i%2b0%2c00&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D1%26Query%3Daa%253A%2522Scott%2BSoames%2522 (jstor).
"The Causal Theory of Names'', Gareth Evans (M)
"Dthat", David Kaplan (M)
"Meaning and Reference'', Hilary Putnam (M)
"Individualism and the Mental'', Tyler Burge, in French, et al., eds. Midwest Studies in Philosophy: Studies in Metaphysics (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press): 73-122. (R)
(Week 9 is spring break)
Topics:Truth and the Liar Paradox
Theories of Meaning
Verificationism
Early Wittgenstein: the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Later Wittgenstein: Philosophical Investigations
Ordinary Language Philosophy
Davidson
Possible World Semantics
Structured Propositions
Selections from Language, Truth and Logic, A. J. Ayer (R)
"Empiricist Criteria of Cognitive Significance: Problems and Changes", Carl Hempel (M)
"The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics'', Alfred Tarski (M)
"Systematically Misleading Expressions", Gilbert Ryle, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1931-32
Selections from the Tractatus, Ludwig Wittgenstein
Selections from the Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Truth and Meaning", Donald Davidson (M)
"Meaning and Synonymy in Natural Languages'', Rudolf Carnap (R)
"Structured Propositions", Jeffrey King in the Stanford Encycolpedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/propositions-structured/
Chapter 2 of Word and Object, W.V.O. Quine (R)
"Radical Interpretation'', Donald Davidson (R)
"The Death of Meaning'', Gilbert Harman (R)
"Language and Problems of Knowledge'', Noam Chomsky (M)
"On Rules and Private Language", Saul Kripke (M)
"The Rule-Following Considerations'', Paul Boghossian, available online at http://www.jstor.org/view/00264423/di985553/98p0244x/0?currentResult=00264423%2bdi985553%2b98p0244x%2b0%2c00&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D1%26Query%3Daa%253A%2522Paul%2BA.%2BBoghossian%2522 (jstor)
"Skepticism about Meaning: Indeterminacy, Normativity and the Rule-Following Paradox'', Scott Soames
There is no exam for this course. Assessment will be by way of 5 papers. The first three papers are each worth 10% and should be 300-400 words long. The fourth paper will be worth 20% and should be 5-6 pages long. The final paper will be worth 40% and should be 12-15 pages long. The final 10% of the grade will be for class participation.
| Assignment | Length | Due Date |
| First Paper | 300-400 wds | Thursday 26th January |
| Second Paper | 300-400 wds | Thursday 9th February |
| Third Paper | 300-400 wds | Thursday 23rd February |
| Fourth Paper | 5-6 pages | Thursday 23th March |
| Fifth Paper | 12-15 pages | Thursday 20th April |
Topics for the 5-6 page paper are now available here.
Topics for the 12-15 page paper are now available here.
Here is the list of readings for the second part of the course.
The topics for the first three papers will be of your own devising, but each should contain an original thesis and an argument for that thesis. You are welcome to run ideas past me before beginning to write. I will be handing out topics for the fourth and fifth papers at least two weeks before the deadline for each paper. You may also devise your own topic for the fourth and fifth papers, but if you elect to do this you should agree it with me before beginning to write.
I recommend reading Jim Pryor's essay "how to write a philosophy paper" to get an idea of what is expected.
Drafts of the fourth and fifth papers will be accepted up to 1 week before the paper deadline but no later.
Late papers will lose a third of a letter grade for each day they are late, for example, a B+ paper which is handed in 2 days late will receive a B-.
Students suspected of plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty or misconduct will be reported to the academic integrity officer for Arts and Sciences (currently Dean Killen), so that the incident may be handled in a consistent, fair manner, and so that substantiated charges of misconduct may be noted in students' records.
For students taking the course pass/fail, a grade of C- or above will be considered a pass.