Meets the following requirements: HS

There is a great deal of contemporary interest in the nature and function of language across the human studies and behavioral sciences.  The major issues involve the attempt to understand the relation between humans and their language and between language and the world.  How is language possible, is it innate or logical, what does it tell us about the human mind?  How can we use language to speak about the world, is a complete theory of the nature and function of language possible, what could such a theory look like?  The purpose of this course is to introduce students to some of the major theories in this area so that they can read and participate in contemporary discussions in this area.  It will deal with the writings of some of the major philosophers in the analytic tradition from Frege, Russell, and early Wittgenstein through Quine, Davidson and Austin to various contemporary discussions of speech act theory, structuralism and conceptual-role semantics.  This class will be taught in an advanced seminar style.  Evaluation will be based on seminar presentations and a final research paper.

Level: Intermediate/Advanced.  Class limit: 15. *HS*