Philosophy of Language
PHIL 463/663
Professor David Liebesman
dlieb@bu.edu
Office: STH 539
Office hours: MW 10-11, or by appointment
Class meetings MWF 1-2
Course Description: The primary goal of the course will be to survey the
main issues in philosophy of language over the last century. Ideally, completion of this course will put the completer in a position to understand a good
deal of state of the art work in the field. A secondary goal of the course is
to examine some of the ways that philosophy of language intersects with other
areas of both philosophy and linguistics, e.g. mind, epistemology, and semantics.
Course Requirements:
1. Participation.
2. Five 1-2 page papers.
3. One longer (8-10 page) paper, in two drafts.
A Word on the Readings: the readings for this course are short but extremely
difficult. In order to understand them you will have to read them slowly and
repeatedly. It will also be helpful to consult secondary sources including (but
not limited to) the Lycan book and my lecture notes. It is good to remember
that you should not expect to understand everything perfectly.
Schedule:
• Sept. 2-4: Introduction
• Sept. 7: Labor Day
• Sept. 9-14: Sense and Reference
Readings: “On Sense and Reference” by Frege, pg. 31-38 of Lycan.
• Sept 16: Short paper 1 due.
• Sept. 16-18: Concept and Object and the Use/Mention Distinction
Reading: “Function and Concept” by Frege (blackboard).
• Sept. 18: Very Short Quiz on the Use/Mention distinction
• Sept. 21-25 Definite Descriptions
Readings: “Descriptions” by Russell, chapter 2 of Lycan.
• Sept. 28: Short paper 2 due.
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• Sept. 28-Oct. 2: Quine on Analyticity
Readings: “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” by Quine (Jstor), chapter 8 of
Lycan.
• Oct. 5: Short paper 3 due.
• Oct. 5-9: Davidson
Readings: “Truth and Meaning” by Davidson, chapter 9 of Lycan.
• Oct. 12th: No Class; the 13th is a BU monday.
• Oct. 13-16: Grice
Readings: “Logic and Conversation” by Grice (blackboard), chapter 13 of
Lycan.
• Oct 19: Short paper 4 due.
• Oct. 19-23: Naming and Necessity
Reading: Naming and Necessity Lecture 1, chapter 3 of Lycan.
• Oct. 26-30: More Naming and Necessity
Reading: Naming and Necessity Lecture 2, chapter 4 of Lycan.
• Nov. 1: Term paper topics due.
• Nov. 2-6: Putnam on Externalism
Reading “Meaning and Reference” by Putnam (Jstor).
• Nov. 9: Short paper 5 due.
• Nov. 9-16: Evans on the Causal theory
Reading “The Causal Theory of Names” by Evans.
• Nov. 18-23: Kripke/Donnellan on Definite Descriptions
Readings: “Reference and Definite Descriptions” by Donnellan, “Speaker’s
Reference and Semantics Reference” by Kripke, and chapter 2 of Lycan.
• Nov. 30: Rough draft of final paper due.
• Nov 30 - Dec 4: Context-sensitivity
Readings: “Frege on Demonstratives” by Perry, chapter 11 of Lycan.
• Dec 7-11: More context-sensitivity
Reading: “Dthat” by Kaplan.
Grading: 15% of your grade will be determined by participation, 35% by the
short writing assignments, and 50% by the longer paper.
Participation: Each of you be questioner for a week. That week you’ll have to
send me a few questions about the reading as well as actively participate in class
discussion. You’ll get 5% for being a questioner. Extra credit may be available
for doing extra weeks. The remaining 10% will be determined by attendance.
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Any more than 3 absences and you will lose 1 point per absence.
Short writing assignments: Each short writing assignment will be worth 7
points. You will be penalized for going over 2 pages! The main purpose of
these short assignments is to teach you how to concisely present arguments and
ideas.
Longer paper : Your 8-10 page paper will come in two drafts: 10 points for the
rough draft and 40 for the final. The topic is up to you, though you will have
to meet with me or e-mail me for approval before Nov 1. I encourage you to develop this term paper from one of the shorter papers, though it is not required.
Late Policy: Unless arrangements are made in advance, I’ll deduct 1/2 letter
grade per day.
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