Course Syllabus

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Language as a Public Manifestation of Thought

  • What makes a series of sounds into a meaningful sentence?

  • What is the connection between words and the objects in the world to which they refer?

  • What is the relationship between words and thoughts in our head?

  • Is the truth of our utterances determined by the world or by social conventions?

 

This course will introduce you to the ways in which philosophers have attempted to provide us with answers to  these types of questions. 

These questions have been asked since antiquity, and we will trace their starting point in Plato’s philosophy. However, a systematic examination of these questions emerged in twentieth-century analytic philosophy. Some lamented and some lauded this shift of focus to language; nevertheless, understanding the central issues in the philosophy of language is indispensable for engaging with contemporary analytic philosophy.


A key part of this development is a famous puzzle introduced by Frege, which we will explore in depth.
Hesperus, the evening star, is in fact identical to Phosphorus, the morning star.

But not everyone knows this. So, some might believe that Hesperus is Hesperus without accepting that Hesperus is Phosphorus.

How can this be?

If Hesperus and Phosphorus are one and the same, should they not share all properties?

And if they do, then does not this include the property of being believed to be a certain way?

Frege’s semantic theory sets the stage for further challenging puzzles that Bertrand Russell would take up and explore in depth.

Russell’s work on these philosophical puzzles probes deeper into the complex relationship between words, our thoughts, and the objects they refer to.

We will examine Russell’s significant contributions, especially his theory of descriptions and denotation.

Following Russell’s significant contributions, the course will turn to the revolutionary ideas of Saul Kripke and Keith Donnellan.

Kripke moves away from the traditional descriptivist framework, proposing instead that names are tied to their referents through a causal chain of reference transmission.In parallel, the course will also explore Keith Donnellan’s contributions, particularly his work on the distinction between referential and attributive uses of descriptions. Donnellan focused on how the speaker’s intentions and the context influence the meaning of their utterances.

 

The course will then turn to the exploration of semantic anti-individualism. Putnam, through imaginative thought experiments like "Twin Earth", argues that meanings are not a mere product of one’s internal mental state but depend on their external environment. Tyler Burge further develops this idea, emphasizing the role of social and environmental factors in shaping the meanings of words and thoughts.

The meaning is still "in the head", but in most cases, an individual’s mental states—beliefs and thoughts— are not self-contained entities, wholly decipherable through introspection. Instead, these mental states are fundamentally intertwined with and depend constitutively on the relations between the individual’s mind and its external environment.

By engaging with these philosophical questions and puzzles, this course’s aim is to examine the dynamic and interconnected nature of language, thought, and the world we live in.                                                                                                              

       Learning Outcomes

  1. Primarily, this course aims to make you wonder about the function and significance of language. It will introduce you to several issues fundamental to understanding the nature of language, including the use of language to communicate, meaningfulness, truth, and reference.

  2. Better understand the work of foundational figures in analytic philosophy.

  3. Critically evaluate (in speaking and writing) various arguments about issues in philosophy of language.

    Course Materials

    There is no required textbook for the course. All required and supplementary materials will be available on the course website.

    Course Requirements

    The grade will count the assessments using the following proportions:

    • Class Participation: 15%

    • Midterm paper (3-4 pages): 35%

    • Final paper (4-5 pages): 50%

    Course Policies

    In this course, adherence to the Principle of Charity (POC) is paramount in our classroom etiquette. The POC requires us to interpret the speaker’s statements in a convincing manner, treating them as deserving of philosophical engagement. Practically, this means that students are expected to listen attentively and not speak over their peers. This principle extends beyond peer interactions to include the way in which we engage with the readings and materials of this course. By embracing this principle, we aim to create a classroom culture that values thoughtful discourse and the diversity of ideas, ultimately enriching our collective learning experience.

    • The course mode is online. All lectures will be recorded so you can review any material that you may miss. The Zoom links and recordings for each lecture can be found on Bruin Learn under the "Zoom" module.

    • Your participation grade, which accounts for 15% of your overall grade, will be based on your engagement with the material. This includes comments in the discussion section or online in the discussion forum on Bruin Learn where you can add comments or questions at the end of each week (or even respond to others’ questions) so we can discuss them during the discussion sections.

    •  Extensions may be granted given a reasonable excuse before the due date. In extenuating circumstances, proof-based excuses will be accepted after the deadline.

    Schedule and Weekly Learning Goals

       Week 1: Conventionalism vs. Naturalism

    • Plato, Republic: book X (596a6–8): Plato’s Theory of Forms and Language

    • Plato’s Cratylus: (383a–391a), (430a4-440e). Conventionalism vs. naturalism: Is language tracking reality or is it a mere convention?

    • Plato’s Philebus: (17c9-18d) . Plato’s account on the way we come to shared understanding via language: how words, akin to numbers, set boundaries within the world’s indeterminate and continuous nature.

      Week 2: Frege’s Puzzle- Two Semantic Values: Sense and Reference

      • Gottlob Frege (1892), ‘On Sense and Reference’

      • Soames, Scott: "The Philosophy of Language", §1.1-§1.13

      Week 3: Propositional Attitudes and the Semantic Importance of Frege’s Platonist Epistemology

      • Frege (1918), “The Thought.”

      • Frege (1914), ‘Letter to Jourdain’

      • Week 4: Russell’s Three Puzzles

      • Russell, “On Denoting”, Mind 14, 1905, pp. 479-480, 483-485, 488-493

      • Russell, “Knowledge by Acquaintance and Knowledge by Description", Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 11, 1910 - 1911, pp. 108-114

      Week 5: Criticism Against the Descriptivist Theories of Reference and the Causal Picture of Reference Transmission

      • Kripke, "Naming and Necessity", 1980, pp. 26-34, 60-68, 71-75, 79-94, 96-97, 162-164

      • Donnellan, “Proper Names and Identifying Descriptions”, Synthese 21 (1970) pp. 339-342

      • Donnellan, “Reference and Definite Descriptions”, The Philosophical Review 75 (1966), pp. 285-296

        Week 6: Exemplars and Semantic Anti-Individualism

        • Hillary Putnam, “Is Semantics Possible?”, Philosophical Papers Volume II, pp. 139-144

        • Hilary Putnam, “The Meaning of ‘Meaning’”, Philosophical Papers Volume II , pp. 215-219, 223-227

        • Tyler Burge, “Other Bodies”, Foundations of Mind, pp.91-94.

          Optional Reading:
          • Wolf, M. P.  Philosophy of language: 50 puzzles, paradoxes, and thought experiments. Routledge.(2023).

          • Kaplan, "Demonstratives: An Essay on the Semantics, Logic, Metaphysics and Epistemology of Demonstratives and Other Indexicals."(1989)

          • Dummett, Michael: Frege: "Philosophy of Language", Chapter 11.

          • David Kaplan, "An Idea of Donnellan". In Joseph Almog and Paolo Leonardi (eds.), Having In Mind: The Philosophy of Keith Donnellan., 2011, pp. 122-175.

          • Tyler Burge, ‘Some Remarks on Putnam’s Contributions to Semantics’, Theoria 79 (2013) pp. 229-241

          • David Kaplan, "Reading "On Denoting" on its Centenary", Mind 114, 2005: (Part 2: "On Denoting"), pp. 968-970, 973-977, 979-990.
          Academic Integrity and Honesty

          Regarding the use of AI/Chatbot technology: Since writing, analytical and critical thinking skills are part of the learning outcomes of this course, all writing assignments must be prepared by the student. Representing work generated by artificial intelligence as one’s own work is considered to be academically dishonest. It is your responsibility to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. Hence, you should be familiar with and adhere to the university’s guidelines on academic honesty. This includes (a)  that all work submitted for grades is your own original work and (b) properly citing any sources that you use. Any suspected infractions of the university’s academic conduct policies will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students without exception. You can find UCLA’s policies on academic and intellectual integrity at the following links:

         

       

     

Course Summary:

Date Details Due