Courses in Philosophy of Language
and Related Areas
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Note: Some courses on this list are not offered every year.
But we will
try to make sure that a reasonable number of philosophy of language
courses
will be offered every term. Also, there will often be special-purpose
reading and research groups.
PHIL 409. Philosophy of Language. A consideration
of basic concepts and methods used by philosophers and linguists to analyze
language and of fundamental problems concerning language and its place
in human activity. Among the topics which may be considered are meaning,
reference, synonymy, analyticity, speech acts, ambiguity, metaphor, truth
and logical truth, and the relation of language, thought, and culture.
PHIL 450. Philosophy of Cognition. A study of the
aims, resources, and methods of cognition, including individual mental
operations as well as social structures of communication. Perspectives
from philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences are examined. PHIL
492. Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein.
PHIL 414. A study of the theories of meaning of Frege,
Russell, and Wittgenstein, with reference to their metaphysical and epistemological
implications. PHIL 550. Topics in Philosophy of Language. Graduate standing.
(3; 2 in the half-term).
PHIL 551. Topics in Philosophy of Linguistics.
PHIL 555. Topics in Logic.
PHIL 556. Topics in Modal Logic.
PHIL 615. Seminar in Philosophy of Language.
LING 514. Semantics and Pragmatics.
LING 314. An introduction to semantics (literal
meaning) and pragmatics (contextual and inferred meaning) with emphasis
on applications to grammatical analysis. Specific topics include: (1) ambiguities
of structure and meaning; (2) word meaning and compositionality; and (3)
quantification and logical form.
LING 515. Generative Syntax. In the Generative (or
Chomskyan) framework of syntax, sentence structure is viewed as being generated
by a formal mathematical system of rules and constraints. Some of these
rules and constraints are innate and universal across languages; others
are learned or "paramaterized."
LING 614. Advanced Semantics.
LING 615. Advanced Syntax. A second term graduate
level course in Syntactic theory. The intent is to move beyond the introductory-text
level, begin reading primary literature critically, undertake research,
and extend knowledge of the Government-Binding theory sufficient to initiate
an informed investigation of the motivations for and overall design features
of the Minimalist Program.
LING 616. Advanced Pragmatics.
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