History of Analytic Philosophy
Spring 2011 MR 3-4:15 EC 212
Professor Chauncey Maher
maherc@dickinson.edu EC201
Office Hours: 4-5 TW, or by appointment
Course Description
How do we manage to be in touch with reality? Does knowledge rest on a foundation? In
what sense, if at all, are our mental lives private? What makes a thought or a sentence meaningful?
Are some claims true in virtue of their meaning alone? What if anything separates philosophical
inquiry from scientific inquiry?
In this course, we shall consider these questions among others, as they appear in several
influential texts in the history of so-called analytic philosophy. Specifically, we will read work by
Bertrand Russell, A.J. Ayer, W.V.O. Quine, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Wilfrid Sellars. (Many
other interesting and influential philosophers have been excluded.) With these texts, a main theme
I hope to track is the prospect for a broadly empiricist approach to philosophical questions.
This course is a seminar. This means, most importantly, that you the student are partly
responsible for the substance of each individual meeting. As instructor, I will function less as a
lecturer, and more as a facilitator and guide. Your active engagement with the texts and
participation during our meetings is crucial to the success of the course.
Goals
-Hone skills of philosophical argument through discussion and writing
-Cultivate ability to read a philosophical text “cold”
-Develop understanding of important philosophical questions
Texts
Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy [PP]
A.J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic [LTL]
W.V.O. Quine, From a Logical Point of View [FLPV]
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations [PI]
deVries and Triplett, Knowledge, Mind and the Given [EPM]
Evaluation
Weekly Questions:
The class will be divided into two groups. The two groups
will take turns preparing questions for discussion during our
meetings. Every group member must prepare a question for the
group’s assigned day. Excluding the first meeting, we have 26
meetings scheduled. So, each of you is responsible for preparing a
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total of 13 questions. Your work on these questions is worth 15% of
your final grade. (See the Guidelines below.)
Discussion:
In addition to preparing questions for every other meeting, you must
also be responsive to the questions and claims of your peers. Your
participation is worth 15% of your final grade.
Essays:
Essay 1:
on Russell or Ayer
6 pages
Due: 2/28
30% of your grade
Essay 2:
on Quine, Wittgenstein or Sellars
8-10 pages
Outline Due: 5/5
Essay Due: 5/13
40% of your grade
Guidelines for Questions
Your questions are an essential part of this course. They will partly dictate what we spend
time talking about in each of our meetings. Therefore, you should aim to prepare questions that
you think are the most deserving of discussion. Bear in mind that formulating questions in a way
that generates fruitful discussion is an acquired skill.
In general, your questions should take one of two general forms: interpretive or critical.
1. Interpretive questions (E.g. “What does he mean?”)
a. Identify a specific passage in the text.
b. Say what you think it means
c. State why it seems unclear
2. Critical questions (E.g. “Does he have good grounds for that?”)
a. Identify a specific claim or argument in the text.
b. Reconstruct the reasoning
c. Say why it seems faulty
Good questions can, of course, take other forms.
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Schedule of Readings
Date
Topic
Reading (for this day in class)
Russell
1/24
M
1/27
R
1/31
M
2/3
2/7
M
Introduction to the course
Denoting
Russell, “On Denoting”
[Frege, “On Sense and Reference”]
Reality, matter and idealism
Russell, PP, I-IV
Knowledge by acquaintance and by
description
Russell, PP, V-VI
Universals
Truth and knowledge
Russell, PP, VII-X
Russell, PP, XI-XV
Ayer
2/10
Verificationism and the elimination of
metaphysics
2/14
M
2/17
The a priori
2/21
M
Emotivism in ethics
2/24
What is there?
2/28
M
Internal and external questions
Prospects for verificationism
Ayer, LTL, chs.1-3
[Carnap, “The Overcoming of
Metaphysics through the Logical Analysis
of Language”]
Ayer, LTL, chs. 4-5
Hempel, “Problems and Changes in the
Empiricist Criterion of Meaning”
Ayer, LTL, ch. 6
Geach, Ascriptivism
[Stevenson, “Emotive Meaning of Ethical
Terms”]
Quine
3/3
3/7
M
3/10
3/14
M
3/17
Essay #1 Due
Analyticity
Reductionism and holism
Quine, FLPV , “On What There Is”
[Quine, “Logic and the Reification of
Universals”]
Carnap, “Empiricism, Semantics and
Ontology”
Essay #1 Due
Quine, FLPV , “Two Dogmas of
Empiricism”
[Quine, “The Problem of Meaning in
Linguistics”]
Quine, FLPV , “Two Dogmas of
Empiricism”
NO CLASS
SPRING BREAK
NO CLASS
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
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3/21
M
Analyticity reconsidered
Grice and Strawson, “In Defense of a
Dogma”
Wittgenstein
3/24
3/28
M
3/31
4/4
M
4/7
The Augustinian picture of language
Following rules
Wittgenstein, PI ,§§1-80
Wittgenstein, PI , §§81-242
Following rules
Privacy and private language
Wittgenstein, PI , §§81-242
Wittgenstein, PI , §§243-315
Expressing or reporting mental states; the
nature of mental states; their relation to
behavior
Wittgenstein, PI , §§316-465
Sellars
Sellars, EPM,§1
Sellars, “Realism and the New Way of
Words,” §§1-2
C.I. Lewis, Mind and the World Order,
chs. 1-2
[Schlick, General Theory of Knowledge,
“The Nature of Knowledge”]
Sellars, EPM,§§2-9
[Sellars, The Metaphysics of
Epistemology, “Objects of Knowledge”]
Sellars, EPM,§§10-29
4/11
M
The Given
4/14
Sense data
4/18
M
4/21
Appearances, and impressions and ideas
4/25
M
4/28
Foundations of knowledge
5/2
M
5/5
Private episodes
Sellars, EPM,§§39-55
Sellars, “Philosophy and the Scientific
Image of Man”
Sellars, EPM,§§56-63
(Slack)
Essay #2 Outline Due
Essay #2 Due by 2pm
(Slack)
Essay #2 Outline Due
Essay #2 Due by 2pm
5/13
Meaning
Philosophy and the scientific image of man
Sellars, EPM,§§30-31
Sellars, The Metaphysics of Epistemology,
“Concept Empiricism”
[Sellars, “Some Reflections on Language
Games”]
[Sellars, “Meaning as Functional
Classification”]
Sellars, EPM,§§32-38
Schlick, “The Foundation of Knowledge”
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Academic Honesty
Any case of suspected academic dishonesty must be reported. Note: “To plagiarize is to
use without proper citation or acknowledgment the words, ideas, or work of another. Plagiarism is
a form of cheating that refers to several types of unacknowledged borrowing.” When in doubt, cite
it. For more information, please see the handbook on Community Standards here:
http://www.dickinson.edu/student/files/commstand0809.pdf
Disabilities
In compliance with the Dickinson College policy and equal access laws, I am available to
discuss requests made by students with disabilities for academic accommodations. Such requests
must be verified in advance this semester by Marni Jones, Coordinator of Disability Services, who
will provide a signed copy of an accommodation letter. This must be presented in a scheduled
meeting with me prior to any accommodations being offered. Requests for academic
accommodations should be made during the first three weeks of the semester (except for unusual
circumstances) so that timely and appropriate arrangements can be made.
Students requesting accommodations are required to register with Disability Services,
located in Academic Advising, first floor of Biddle House (contact ext. 1080 or
jonesmar@dickinson.edu) to verify their eligibility for reasonable and appropriate
accommodations.
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