PHIL 855.001 – Research Seminar in Philosophy of Logic

The topic of Philosophy 855 in Spring 2014 is the logic and metaphysics of truth.  On the logic side, we’ll look at a number of contemporary theories of truth (including Kripke’s and Field’s) and current attempts to solve semantic paradox – not just the liar, but paradoxes of reference and versions of Russell’s paradox too.  On the metaphysics side, we’ll focus on the debate between the substantivist about truth (such as the correspondence theorist) and the deflationist (such as the disquotationalist and the minimalist).  In particular, we’ll look at how this debate impacts realism and anti-realism, metaethics, meaning, assertion, and vagueness.  We’ll also investigate the connection between the logic of truth and its metaphysics.  Throughout the seminar, I won’t presuppose any logic beyond Phil 455 – we’ll work through any more advanced formal material in class.