PHIL 3220 Philosophy of Language  TR 9:30-10:45  002LSB 

Prof. Justin Leiber. 283 Dodd Hall: hrs: TR 11-12:15, 2-3 & by appointment  jleiber@fsu.edu

TA John Stigall. 182D Dodd Hall; hrs: T 11:30-1, R11:30-12:30, jcs08c@fsu.edu

 

 

Texts:  Robert J. Stainton [RJS], Perspectives in the Philosophy of Language: a concise

  anthology (Peterborough, ONT, CA: Broadview, 2000)

A. Doxiadis & C. Papadimitriou [DP]. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth (NY: Bloomsbury 2009)

             Leiber Home Page [LHP] (Google “Leiber Justin” or go to Philosophy Dept. > Faculty >

             Leiber > Leiber > Home Page). There will also be some xeroxes.

Aug. 24-26. Language. Philology & Linguistics. Sentences, words (morphemes), phonemes.

 Phonology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics. Observational, Psychological, and Explanatory Adequacy.

 Logic. Propositional Logic, Predicate Logic, Set Theory. The Frege/Russell project. DP 11-344.

LHP “Philosophy Addict,” “A Philosophical Education.”

Aug. 31-Sep.7. A short history of philosophy: 17th&18th Rationalism and Empiricism; Kant and psychologism;

Logical Positivism/Empiricism. Vienna Circle. Freddy Ayer. Three kinds of sentences: analytic,

synthetic, and non-cognitive (emotive). Extension and Intension. Chomsky distinguishes

External Language from Internal Language: RJS Noam Chomsky (3-44). DP.

“Philosophy of Language Chomsky Encyclopedia Article and Verbal Behavior Review.htm”    

Sep. 9  Gottlob Frege. RJS “Ueber Sinn und Bedeutung” (45-64).

Sep. 14-16. Bertrand Russell. RJP “Descriptions” (65-74).

Sep. 21-23. Donald Davidson, RJS “Truth & Meaning” (75-92). And Quine on “Gavagai” and radical translation.            

Sep. 28 Saul Kripke, RJS “Identity and Necessity” (93-126).

Sep. 30. H P Grice, RJS “Meaning” (127-136). First take-home essay due (2000-2500)   

Oct. 5-7 J A Fodor, RJS “Propositional Attitudes” (137-162).);

Oct. 12. D C Dennett, RJS “Three Kinds of Intentional Psychology” (163-188).

Oct. 14-19. W V Quine, RJS “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” (189-210).   

Oct. 21-26. Wittgenstein and Oxford Ordinary Language Philosophy.  RJS (211-238).

            “On What Kind of Speech Act Investigations Is” LHP.

Oct. 28. J L Austin, RJS “Performative Utterances” (239-252).

Nov. 2.  J R Searle, RJS “What is a Speech Act?” (253-270). (MPL 107-123). 

Nov. 4.  H P Grice, RJS “Logic and Conversation” (271-288). 2nd essay due.

Nov. 9. P F Strawson, RJS “On Referring” (289-212).

Nov. 11.  Keith Donnelan, RJS “Reference and Definite Descriptions” (313-332)

Nov. 16-23. The Everett-Nevin debate. LingBuzz.  

Other aspects of language. Phonology, nativism, modularity, language deficits

(autism, Williams syndrome, others). Linguistic relativity (Whorf) and its come-uppance.

 Structuralism and generativity; universal base hypothesis; propositional attitude psychology.

 Reductionism again.

Nov. 30. Student evaluations of faculty and staff. Last class day.

Dec. 2. In class essay exam. Not a final, not cumulative.         

 

 

  

Course Description. Language, rather than human psychology and the world in general, is the reality primarily addressed in 20th Century philosophy: language (and its logic) reflect and perhaps also clarify psychological and metaphysical philosophical views. And in any case, natural language is the species-specific trait of humans as opposed to other animals: it is the oldest trait of modern big-brained apes (that is, us). It is also the only general human capacity that seems too complex for command by a computer program (although machine translation has received more attention and investment than any other field, good translation between human languages is way beyond the capacity of any current computer mechanism. Two thirds of this course is concerned with specifically philosophical developments in the study of language through the 20th Century (Logical Positivism, Ordinary Language Philosophy, Return to Metaphysics. The rest of the course is concerned with the more specifically linguistic study of language in the work of Noam Chomsky, Jerry Fodor, etc.

Course Objectives: By the end of this course you will have an active grasp of how philosophical views of language grew out of Gottlob Frege’s attempt to ground arithmetic in predicate logic (and set theory) – at first moored to mathematical and scientific discourse, then to more ordinary language of conversation and everyday life, and finally into the development of human cognition and language use. You will be able to understand language as most basic and characteristic trait of homo sapiens. Hopefully, you should also improve your expressive grasp of language in your written assignments.

Teaching Assistant. Peter Takacs , an advanced PhD student in the Philosophy Department, will grade some of the first and second essays you write for this course; he will also be available during his office hours.

Finding us: The main entrance to Dodd Hall (off University Way) is up some steps. Go through the swinging doors and directly across the alcove to enter the 200-numbered philosophy office. My office (283) is at the end of the corridor. Aside from office hours, I can be available if you make an appointment or just walk by (I’ll be in most weekdays). 

Required Work. To earn a grade (other than F) you must complete three essay take-home and essay assignments. Each essay exam will ask you to cover one or more questions from a list provided; you run other questions by me for possible approval.

Grades: All grades will be according to the plus-minus system. Your final grade will be determined mostly by your essay grades. Each will determine 29% of your grade; class participation will determine 13%. Your final grade will be determined by an average of your three grades plus participation; it may be higher depending on my curve (but never lower than the average). When grading, we look for accuracy, relevance, clarity, organization, and well-defended judgements. Late papers will have 1 grade level subtracted for each late weekday unless medical excuse is used with appropriate documentation.

Make-ups and final exam: There is no final exam for this course. Any missed exam will require an explicit medical/professional/legal excuse with supporting documentation.

Honor Code and Plagarism: The FSU Honor Code Policy outlines the University’s expectations for the integrity of students’ academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged violations, and the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty members throughout the process. You are responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy. If we believe you have plagiarized in written work, we will discuss this with you. If there is a disagreement (between you and me) or a finding (in a hearing) that you have committed plagiarism, you will received an ‘F’ for the course. (Practically speaking, lifting a sentence or even a phrase or two from the web or another student’s essay can stick out like a sore thumb.)    

Being Practical About Philosophy. While philosophy concerns and updates the oldest scientific and practical questions, it is also, as an undergraduate major, the best preparation for most graduate studies (aside from philosophy itself). The most recent available results show that philosophy majors score the best on the LSATs, are tied with economic majors for first on the GMAT and substantially ahead of all business majors), score just behind physics and mathematics majors on the GRE quantitative and are at the top on the GRE verbal. Philosophy concentrates on fundamental questions and logical reasoning; the techniques you learn will be a permanent tool set in whatever career or life you eventually undertake.