Studying at York
Philosophy of Language - PHI00073I
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2023-24 |
Module aims
The module aims to:
—develop students’ knowledge and understanding of a representative range of key puzzles, problems, issues, and debates in philosophy of language
—develop students’ abilities to think critically and reflectively about difficult conceptual questions
— introduce students to a range of the methods and strategies deployed in contemporary debates in philosophy of language and develop their abilities to use these
— develop students’ abilities to improve their own work—e.g. by making good use of feedback
Module content might include:
How do human languages differ from the information-sharing practices of other species?
How can we understand sentences we’ve never heard before?
How do word meanings work together to produce sentence meanings?
Are word meanings anything like mental pictures or ideas?
How do names work?
Can we give a complete account of meaning just in terms of words standing for or referring to things?
How can we account for the meaning of informative identities (like ‘Lady Gaga is Stefani Germanotta’), reports of belief and other propositional attitudes (like ‘Tom believes Lady Gaga is a genius’), and true singular negative existential claims (like ‘Vulcan does not exist’) and other claims expressed with ‘empty’ names (names that don’t stand for anything)?
Should we distinguish the meaning of a sentence from the meaning that a speaker gets across by using it on a particular occasion?
How do definite descriptions (like ‘the present king of France’) work?
Are names really just disguised definite descriptions?
Is the reference of a name fixed by the history of its use?
Is meaning radically underdetermined by evidence about what people do and say?
How, if at all, could we interpret the speech of people speaking a language we’d not encountered before?
How do demonstratives and indexicals (expressions like ‘that cat’ and ‘me’ and ‘now’) work?
How could we account for the meaning of sentences which don’t seem simply to state facts (e.g. ‘Shut the door’, ‘I promise I’ll pay you back’, ‘How do questions work?’)?
How do generics (expressions like ‘dogs’ in ‘Dogs bark’) work?
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
—understand and explain a range of key problems, issues, and debates in the Philosophy of Language and express this understanding in clear, precise, and accessible terms
—develop and articulate ranges of alternative solutions to problems and issues in the Philosophy of Language in an open-minded way, drawing on module materials
—develop and articulate arguments for the alternative solutions considered in relation to problems and issues in the Philosophy of Language, drawing on module materials, identifying some points of weakness and some potential points for development
—make a judgement about what is the best view on a particular problem in the Philosophy of Language and argue in defence of this judgement
—identify some of their strengths and weaknesses by evaluating their own work in relation to departmental marking criteria
—apply simple strategies for improving their work, based on critical reflection, advice, and feedback
Module content
It is strongly recommended that students taking this module have already taken Reason and Argument (either PHI00005C or PHI00006C) in their first year. If they have not, but still wish to register for the module, they should speak with the Module Coordinator before registering.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
All feedback will be returned within current guidelines for turnaround.
Indicative reading
Beaney, Michael (ed.) 1997: The Frege Reader. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hale, Bob and Crispin Wright 1999: A Companion to the Philosophy of Language. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kripke, Saul 1980: Naming and Necessity. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lee, Barry (ed.) 2011: Key Thinkers: Philosophy of Language. London: Continuum.
Lepore, Ernest and Barry C. Smith (eds) 2006: The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lycan, William 2008: Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction. London: Routledge.
Martinich, A. P. and David Sosa (eds) 2012: The Philosophy of Language, 6th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sainsbury, R. M. 2005: Reference without Referents. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, Kenneth 1998: Truth and Meaning: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language. Oxford: Blackwell.