PHL307 Philosophy of Language

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course focuses on theories of meaning and reference particularly as they emerged in the early 20th century. The course begins with Gottlob Frege and proceeds through various philosophers who contributed to that tradition, including Russell, Donnellan, Grice, Davidson, and Kripke. The focus of the class will be largely on how proper names successfully refer, how sentences acquire their meaning systematically from their constituent parts, how there can be empty names, and how successful communication is possible.