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Department of Philosophy   Northern Illinois University

Course Offerings: Spring 2008

PHILOSOPHY 404: PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

TUESDAY, THURSDAY
SECTION 1, 2:00 - 3:15 P.M.

PROFESSOR TOMIS KAPITAN

REQUIRED TEXTS
Matthew Davidson, ed., On Sense and Direct Reference (McGraw-Hill, 2007)

RECOMMENDED TEXT
William Lycan, Philosophy of Language (Routledge, 2000)

COURSE CONTENT
This course is an intensive survey of some of the main problems and theories in the contemporary philosophy of language. We will focus primarily on semantic issues that arise concerning meaning and reference, with special attention given to the use and significance of singular referring expressions such as proper names, descriptions, indexical expressions, and pronouns. We will begin by reading some of the most important writings of John Locke, J.S. Mill, Gottlob Frege, and Bertrand Russell on language, and then move on to more recent works by Keith Donnellan, Saul Kripke, David Kaplan, John Perry, and several others. At least one book published within the past two or three years will be studied as well. The course is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Familiarity with elementary symbolic logic will be presupposed. If time permits, we also investigate a couple of "off-Broadway" issues, such as the political use of language in manipulating thought and the linguistic basis for certain metaphysical views concerning the self. Students will be required to write two short studies and one major term paper

COURSE FORMAT
Two papers and a Final Exam