PHIL/LING 445.001 – Philosophy of Language

Instructor: Gillian Russell. This course meets W 1:00 – 3:30 p.m. in CW 213.

This course is intended as a second course in the philosophy of language. It focuses on four main areas, via 3 short books and 1 book-length article: i) externalism and direct reference – for which we will (re)read Kripke’s Naming and Necessity, ii) normativity and meaning skepticism – using Kripke’s Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language, iii) context-sensitivity – using Kaplan’s “Demonstratives”, and iv) lying and misleading, using Saul’s Lying, Misleading and What is Said. We will also read a number of well-known articles on each topic.