Philosophy 465: Philosophy of Language
University of Southern California
Autumn 2010
Professor Robin Jeshion
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:00-2:00 and by appointment
Office: Stonier Hall, Room 228
Phone: 740-0083
email: [email protected]
Overview:
This course is an introduction to the relationships between language, thought, and their
abilities to represent the world. We discuss theories of reference, truth, the nature of
meaning, the semantics of names and descriptions, how we use language to perform actions,
the mechanisms and rational structure underpinning conversations, our capacity to implicate
(as opposed to directly express) content, the semantics of metaphor, the ways in which
pejorative expressions offend.
Course texts:
Three books are required and available from the USC Bookstore:
A. P. Martinich, ed., The Philosophy of Language, 5th edition, Oxford University Press.
Saul Kripke Naming and Necessity Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
William Lycan The Philosophy of Languag, 2nd edition, Routledge.
Course requirements:
i)
Attendance. Class attendance is essential. The readings for this course are
difficult, but will be greatly clarified during our class meetings. If you must miss
a class, you are expected to write up a one-page (double-spaced) summary of one
of the readings, including questions you have about the material.
ii)
Readings. You must read all the assigned material and be prepared to discuss it in
class. The number of pages of reading is usually not large. But reading philosophy
takes much longer than reading other material. Read slowly, and then reread. And,
then, …reread. Please come to class with questions about aspects of the reading
that you did not understand. Always bring your books to class since we will often
do close readings of the material.
iii)
Midterm. A midterm examination to be given in class on October 4th. The
midterm will involve answering approximately 5 or 6 questions on the material in
the first half of the course. It will be straightforward but will require an ability to
synthesize the material and understand various problems with certain theories.
iv)
Short paper. A short paper of approximately 4 pages is due on November 3rd. I
will handout the short paper topics on October 20th.
v)
Long paper. A long paper of approximately 10 pages is due on December 6th. On
November 24th, I will provide a handout with a series of interesting paper topics
from which to choose.
Grade Distribution:
Midterm 25%
Short Paper 25%
Long Paper 35%
Attendance and Class Participation 15%
Important Information:
i)
For the long paper, but not for the short paper, you may write on a topic not
included on the list I distribute. You need to discuss your potential paper-topic
with me first and receive my permission to do so.
ii)
Our schedule of readings, below, is subject to revision, depending on the ebb and
flow of the course.
iii)
I trust that it is just a formality for me to note that plagiarism is forbidden. Failure
to adhere to USC policies on unethical use of others’ ideas and words will result
in automatically failing the course and my carrying through USC policy via
student affairs. Familiarize yourself on what constitutes plagiarism and USC
policy in Trojan Integrity.
Readings:
Note: except for Kripke’s Naming and Necessity, and Lycan, all page numbers refer to
Martinich. Some material is available through JSTOR or personal websites.
Gottlob Frege: “On Sense and Nominatum” (1892) 217-219
Bertrand Russell: “On Denoting” (1905) 230-238
Bertrand Russell: “Descriptions” (1919) 239-245
Keith Donnellan: “Reference and Definite Descriptions” (1966) 265-276
John Stuart Mill: “Of Names” (1881) 284-289
Saul Kripke: Naming and Necessity (1970)
J. L. Austin: “Performative Utterances” (1961) 136-145
John Searle: “A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts” 157-170
H. P. Grice “Logic and Conversation” (1975) 171-181
Donald Davidson “What Metaphors Mean” (1978) 473-484
Merrie Bergmann “Metaphorical Assertions” available on JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2184628
David Kaplan “The Meaning of ‘Ouch’ and ‘Oops’”, distributed
Mark Richard, “Epithets and Attitudes”, chapter 1 of When Truth Gives Out, available at
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oso/2717963/2008/00000001/00000001/art0000
Jennifer Hornsby, “Meaning and Uselessness: How to Think about Derogatory Words”,
available via author’s website, http://www.bbk.ac.uk/phil/staff/academics/hornsby
Christopher Hom “The Semantics of Racial Epithets”, available via author’s website,
http://www.webpages.ttu.edu/chom/Papers.html
Luvell Anderson and Ernie Lepore “Slurring Words”, available on author’s (Lepore’s)
website, http://ruccs.rutgers.edu/faculty/LeporeSelPub.html
Schedule of Readings
Week 1
August 23: The basics: syntax, semantics, pragmatics; relationship between language and
thought
August 25: Frege’s Puzzle about cognitive significance
• Frege: “On Sense and Nominatum”
Week 2
August 30, September 1: Frege’s Puzzle about cognitive significance, principles of
compositionality, truth values.
• Frege: “On Sense and Nominatum”
• Lycan: 9-12, 31-34
Week 3
September 6 (no class, Labor Day)
September 8: Semantics of propositional attitude sentences, hierarchy of senses
• Frege: “On Sense and Nominatum”
Week 4
September 13, September 15: Meinong’s puzzle, descriptions and logically proper names
• Russell: “Descriptions”
• Russell: “On Denoting”
• Lycan: 19-23, 31-38
Week 5
September 20: Ordinary names as descriptions, principles of acquaintance
• Russell: “Descriptions”
• Lycan:
September 22: Against Russell – referential use of definite descriptions
• Donnellan: “Reference and Definite Descriptions”
• Lycan: 23-27
Week 6
September 27, September 29: Proper names and the direct theory of reference, a priori/a
posteriori, necessity/contingency
• Mill: “Of Names”
• Kripke: Naming and Necessity, Lecture 1
• Lycan: 38-43, 45-62
Week 7
October 4: MIDTERM EXAMINATION
October 6: Modal, semantic, epistemic arguments against descriptivism, contingent a priori
• Kripke: Naming and Necessity, Lecture 1, Lecture 2
Week 8
October 11, October 13: Start on Pragmatics -- Performatives and Speech Acts
• Austin: “Performative Utterances”
• Searle: “A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts”
• Lycan 144-155
Week 9
October 18, October 20 Rationality inherent in conversation, conventional and
conversational implicatures
• Grice: “Logic and Conversation”
• Lycan 156-162
SHORT PAPER TOPICS DISTRIBUTED
Week 10
October 25, October 27: Semantics of Metaphor
• Davidson “What Metaphors Mean”
• Bergmann “Metaphorical Assertions”
• Lycan 175-190
Week 11
November 1, November 3: Meaning encoded in use-conditions
• Kaplan “The Meaning of ‘Ouch’ and ‘Oops’”
SHORT PAPER DUE
Week 12
November 8, November 10 (no classes this week)
Week 13
November 15, November 17: Pejoratives Terms and Slurring Words
• Richard, “Epithets and Attitudes”, chapter 1 of When Truth Gives Out
• Hornsby, “Meaning and Uselessness: How to Think about Derogatory Words”
Week 14
November 2, November 24: Slurring Words
• Hom “The Semantics of Racial Epithets”
• Anderson and Lepore “Slurring Words”
LONG PAPER TOPICS DISTRIBUTED
Week 15: 11/29, 12/1
Review, wrap-up, discussions on final papers