geoff pynn
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Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy
Northern Illinois University
g pynn @ niu . edu
spring 2011
philosophy 404/504: philosophy of language
This course is an intensive survey of some classic and contemporary readings and topics in philosophy of language, culminating in a somewhat more leisurely study of recent work on vagueness.
Syllabus
Weekly writing assignments
Graduate student presentation guidelines and schedule
Graduate student paper prospectus instructions
Test 1 Questions
Test 2 Questions
1/18
Handout 1: Background on Frege
1/20
Frege, "On Sense and Reference" (Max Black translation)
Frege, Letter to Husserl (1891)
Handout 2: Frege's "On Sense and Reference"
1/25
Russell, "On Denoting" (in Martinich)
Russell, "Descriptions" (in Martinich)
Handout 3: Russell on Denoting, Descriptions, and Names
Optional reading: Russell, "Knowledge By Acquaintance and Knowledge By Description"
1/27
Strawson, "On Referring" (in Martinich)
Handout 4: Strawson's "On Referring"
2/1
BLIZZARD
2/3
SNOW DAY
2/8
Donnellan, "Reference and Definite Descriptions" (in Martinich)
Optional reading: Kripke, "Speaker's Reference and Semantic Reference"
2/10
Kripke, Naming and Necessity, Lecture I
Handout 5: Naming and Necessity, Lecture I
2/15
Kripke, Naming and Necessity, Lecture II
2/17
Kripke, Naming and Necessity, Lecture III
2/22
TEST 1
Questions
2/24
Putnam, "Meaning and Reference"
3/1
Davidson, "Truth and Meaning"
Handout 6: Theories of Meaning
3/3
Grice, "Meaning"
3/8
Dummett, "Language and Communication"
3/10
Grice, "Logic and Conversation"
Handout 7: Grice's Theory of Implicature
3/22
The Pragmatics of Knowledge Ascriptions
3/24
Bach, "Conversational Impliciture"
Handout: Conversational Impliciture (Andy and John)
3/29
TEST 2
Questions
3/31
NO CLASS
4/5
Handout 8: Introduction to Vagueness
Williamson, Vagueness, introduction, chs.1-2
504: Paper Prospectus Due
4/7
Williamson on Many-Valued Logics and Vagueness (Dealy)
Williamson, Vagueness, Introduction, Chapters 1-2
4/12
Handout 9: Supervaluations
Fine, "Vagueness, Truth and Logic"
Keefe, "Vagueness: Supervaluationism" (paper available by email)
4/14
Williamson, Vagueness, Chapter 5
4/19
Handout 10: Epistemicism
Williamson, Vagueness, Chapter 7
4/21
Williamson, Vagueness, Chapter 8
4/26
Keefe, `The Epistemic Theory of Vagueness'
5/3
Braun and Sider, `Vague, So Untrue'