PHIL 450J Special Topics: Philosophy of Language

Philosophy of language is an attempt to understand the nature of language and its relationship with speakers, their thoughts, and the world. Philosophers of language ask and attempt to answer abstract questions such as: What is language? What is meaning? How do we understand one another? What is the connection between names and the objects to which they refer? Is the truth and falsehood of our statements determined by the world or by our linguistic conventions? Do we have an innate linguistic faculty or do we learn to speak by observing the behavior of other speakers? Attempts to answer such questions serve as the sources for various philosophical theories about language.