Philosophy 262 - Meaning and Truth: The Semantics of Natural Language

This course is an introduction to central topics and debates in classic and contemporary philosophy of language. What is the relation between thought, language and reality? What kinds of things are accomplished with words? Is there anything significant about the definite article "the"? How does meaning accrue to proper names? Is speaker meaning the same as the public, conventional (semantic) meaning of words? Is there a distinction between metaphorical and literal language? This course also considers contemporary topics such as silencing speech, slurs, and misleading speech. Prerequisite: PHI 101, PHI 102 or equivalent.