PHIL 224 Philosophy of Language

Advanced introduction to issues in the philosophy of language—primarily concerning the nature of reference, meaning, and truth. Works from such 20th-century figures as Russell, Wittgenstein, Kripke, Lewis, and Putnam discussed. Topics include what it is for a sign or a bit of language to be meaningful, or for it to identify or represent something; what it is for a statement to be truthful; what it is to be a language; and how reference works when attributed to beliefs.