HON: Philosophy of Language

Prerequisite: One 100-level, three-credit course in philosophy or CRIT 111 This course explores questions regarding the relation between language and reality, and issues of meaning, reference and truth. We use language to express what we mean and to describe our world; but how does language describe and what is meaning? How is meaning created? How does language refer to the facts of the world? What are the conditions for truth? What is the role of use in creating meaning for words? What is the role of context? How do things get their names? What are speech acts? How do metaphors work? These topics are addressed through the work of prominent philosophers of the 20th century analytic tradition, such as Frege, Russell, Grice, Austin, Searle, Quine, Kripke, Putnam, Davidson and Wittgenstein. Offered alternate years.