Welcome to Minds and Language
How do words get their meanings? How much do the words we use influence or determine the way we think, or even what we think about? For that matter, can I think without language at all? How if I had no language like a dog or a cat could I think? McDaniel Plan: TA.
About
In many ways, this is a course in the Philosophy of Language. In recent years, Philosophers of Language have begun to take findings in Cognitive Science very seriously. At the same time, Cognitive Scientists are listening more and more to the newer theories of meaning that Philosophers develop. In this course, we explore Philosophy's contributions to this on-going dialog. The primary readings for the class are drawn from the history of the Philosophy of Language, but wherever I can, I have provided connections to the psychological, linguistic and psycholinguistic literature to better form these connections.
Syllabus
Phil 3321 Section 1
BMC 100
TTh 3:00-4:30
Syllabus
Phil 3321 Section 1
BMC 100
TTh 3:00-4:30
Description
How do words get their meanings? How much do the words we use influence or determine the way we think, or even what we think about? For that matter, can I think without language at all? How if I had no language like a dog or a cat could I think? McDaniel Plan: TA.
Structure
This course is an upper-level course meant to introduce students to this history of the philosophy of language and its relationship to our understanding of the mind. As such, the day-to-day flow of the course will depend on the students. The course will be structured around the readings outlined below in the schedule, but the speed at which we approach those readings, and even the order in which do so is up for discussion.
The main part of the semester will be taken up with presentations on the readings. Students will present the readings and some possible critiques to open the discussion in the class. I hope to be able to cover 1-2 readings a class session. I've cited secondary sources and places for 'further' research. You will need to take advantage of these in the preparation of your presentation. When you present, your task is to explicate the reading in front of us as clearly as you can. But - sometimes that is aided by understanding what others have said about the reading, or about how this reading fits into the tradition. These secondary and further sources will aid in that effort.
Honor Code
As members of the McDaniel college community, I expect that we are all committed to upholding and abiding by our honor system. That means that I will do everything I can to make possibly ambiguous assignments clear and that you are obligated to report any violations. I require that all written work be submitted with the signed honor pledge "I have neither given or received unauthorized aid on this piece of work, nor have I knowingly tolerated any violation of the Honor Code". I will not grade any assignment without such a signature.
Finally, when in doubt, ask. There will be cases, if not in this class, then in others, where the line between citation and plagiarism is vague. And there will be cases in which the line between helping a friend and doing their work will be crossed. Your best bet in finding the line is to ask me. If you ask before hand, you have nothing to worry about. If you wait until after, it might be too late.
As I mentioned before, following the practices of good writing (never quote from a secondary source, never use imagery you have seen before, or an example that has been used by someone else) will keep your writing away from any suggestion of plagiarism.
Objectives
- To gain an appreciation of how language works: how words enter language, change over time and finally fall into disuse.
- To explore the relationship between language and thought--both with respect to the semantics and syntax.
- To develop analytic skills, both in the analysis of text, verbal presentations and written work.
- To develop a familiarity with a few of the main theories of meaning: how and why our words and concepts mean what they mean.
- And most importantly: to question everything.
Materials
Language, Truth and Logic
Alfred J. Ayer. Dover Publications 1952, Paperback, 160 pages, $6.95
Speech Acts
John R. Searle. Cambridge University Press 1970, Paperback, 203 pages, $34.99
The Language of Thought (The Language and Thought Series)
Jerry A. Fodor. Harvard University Press 2005, Paperback, 214 pages, $23.00
Tractatus Logico Philosophicus (Routledge Classics)
Ludwig Wittgenstein. Routledge 2001, Paperback, 128 pages, $17.95
Selected readings - packet in the bookstore.
Requirements
The college believes that "liberally educated men and women think and act critically, creatively and humanely." I expect nothing less. Whether it be in the classroom, in written assignments, and in your preparation for class, I expect you to think and act critically, creatively and humanely.
Attendance: Given the active nature of the course, regular attendance is mandatory. Attendance and participation are a major part of your overall grade (10-15%) and every absence counts. If you must miss a class, please inform me before the class begins so I can restructure the session if necessary. A quick email is sufficient. If you miss more three times, it will begin impact your grade significantly.
Classroom conduct: No cellphones! (or text messaging, pagers, blackberry, PDAs, etc. UNLESS they are being used for taking notes, recording discussions, sending text messages to Sam Paxton, etc).
The readings on the calendar below should be completed before the class begins. These are the readings we will be discussing in class, so if you haven't read the material, you won't have anything to add to the discussion.
Information Technology: I do use blackboard occasionally. There is a copy of this syllabus available, and I will be updating assignments over the course of the semester. In case of conflict or confusion regarding due dates or scheduled readings, between the website and this document, the website always takes precedence.
Special Accommodation: If you are in need of special accommodation, please see me at least 48 hours before the event for which you would need accommodation. I can be very flexible if approached in a timely manner. Making changes after the fact is difficult if not impossible.
Assignments / Evaluative Criteria
Papers & Presnetations: There will be two short papers over the course of the term, both in conjunction with a presentation. These presentations will be linked to one of the readings. You will have some flexibility in choosing your topic, but your will have to complete at least one before mid-term.
Presentations During your presentation, your primary task will be to explain the reading. As a secondary task, you should be prepared to offer some critique or line of questioning about the reading. You should prepare a 1-page handout that summaries the main points, and points your fellow students towards further resources. NEW We now have the Philosopher's Index! For this semester, I want each of you to get at least 5 sources from the Index for each presentation. You should review the abstracts and judge their suitability for connection to the critique and/or interpretation you will be offering. That should be included on the handout. This will not only help other students, but if you choose to write your final paper on this topic, you'll have a leg up.
Presentation Papers The papers associated with a presentation are expository in nature. As with the presentation, I'm looking for an accurate depiction of the author's arguments. There are, of course, points at which interperations may differ, but the main task is charitablly reconstruct and analyze author's argument.
Final Paper The final paper is a research paper. You can start with one of your presentation papers, if you so choose. This is a longer, original paper on a topic of your choice. I reserve the right to be involved in the process of refining topics.
One last note on academic honesty. It is good academic practice to quote only from primary sources. It is also good practice to use clear, original examples to illustrate your point. If you follow both of these rules, many of the so-called 'borderline' plagiarism cases will never arise.
All papers are evaluated with respect to clarity, precision and sophistication of the argument / thesis presented. Oral presentations are evaluated with respect to many of the same criteria, but for the most part can be tailored to exposition, rather than criticism or analysis.
| Assignment | Value |
| Paper 1 / Presentation | 25% |
| Paper 2 / Presentation | 25% |
| Final Paper | 35% |
| Attendance and Participation | 15% |
Assignments are subject to change according to the flow of the class. In particular, I may replace a paper with a midterm, or a paper with a presentation, or vice versa. Ratios will, however, remain more or less the same: a majority of your grade depends on your final exam and final paper.
Calendar
| Week 1 |
Introduction - why Minds AND Language? |
| 8/26 |
Welcome - Brief history of the field |
Also: Pinker, S. The Language Instinct
Katz, "On the General Character of a Semantic Character" |
| 8/28 |
Fodor The Language of Thought Preface and Introduction
Theory of Content, Introduction. |
| Week 2 |
Linguistic Realitivism |
| 9/2 |
Whorf "Science and Linguistics" "Linguistics as an Exact Science", "Language, Mind and Reality" |
Also: Berlin and Kay 'World Color Survey' http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/wcs/study.html
Rosch - Paper on the Dani;
Pullam, G. (1991) The great Eskimo vocabulary hoax, and other irreverent essays on the study of language. Chicago University Press: Chicago.;
And, things to research:
Bloom's Counterfactual Hoax
|
| 9/4 |
Black "Linguistic Realitivity: The Views of Benjamin Lee Whorf"
|
| Week 3 |
Basic Thinking About Language / Pre-History |
| 9/9 |
Descartes - Selections |
Also: Chomsky Cartesian Linguistics (Dict.
Project) |
| 9/11 |
Hobbes: Selections from The Leviathan |
| Week 4 |
History |
| 9/16 |
Locke - Selections from Essays Concerning Human Understanding |
Also: Fodor Hume's Variations*, Jesse Prinz Furnishing the Mind: Concepts and Their Perceptual Basis (In Library). |
| 9/18 |
Hume - Selections from A Treatise of Human Nature |
| Week 5 |
Foundations |
| 9/23 |
Tarski - "The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics
Grice - "Meaning" |
Also: William Lycan The Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge) [textbook-style secondary source for these difficult materials.]*
Donnallen "Reference and Definite Descriptions"
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Reference", "Descriptions" "Deflationary Theory of Truth" as well as biographical entries on the writers. |
| 9/25 |
Frege - "On Sense and Meaning"
Russell - "On Denoting" and "Descriptions" |
| Week 6 |
Verificationism |
| 9/31 |
Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic: Intro, Preface, Ch 1 |
Also: Church, A., 1949, "Review of Language, Truth, and Logic", Journal of Symbolic Logic, 14: 52-3. (via JStor) |
| 10/2 |
Ayer LTL: Ch 2&3 (1 presentation) |
| Week 7 |
Verification Con't |
| 10/7 |
Ayer LTL Ch 4&5, 6 (2 presentations) |
Also: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Vienna Circle" as well as biographical entries of Ayer. |
| 10/9 |
Ayer LTL 7, 8 (2 presentations) |
| Week 8 |
Wittgenstein I |
| 10/14 |
No Class - Fall Break. |
Also: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Wittgenstein's Logical Atomism" as well as biographical entries of the authors |
| 10/16 |
Wittgenstein's Tractatus |
| Week 9 |
Reaction to Verificationism |
| 10/21 |
Wittgenstein - Selections from Philosophical Investigations |
Also: Kripke "Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language
Grice and Strawson "In Defense of a Dogma"
For Linguistics / Psycholinguistics: Rosch "Principles of Categorization"
And Murphey and Medin "The Role of Theories in Conceptual Coherence"
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Private Language" and "Analytic/Synthetic distinction" as well as biographical entries of the authors |
| 10/23 |
Quine "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" |
| Week 10 |
Kripke |
| 10/28 |
Kripke Naming and Necessity Lecture 1 |
Also: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Modal Logic" and "Rigid Designators" as well as biographical entries on the writers. |
| 10/30 |
Kripke NandN Lecture 2 & 3 |
| Week 11 |
Speech Acts |
| 11/4 |
Causal Theories: Evans "The Causal Theory of Names"
and Dretske "Causal Theory of Reference" |
Also: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Reference", "Descriptions" as well as biographical entries on the writers. |
| 11/6 |
J.L. Austin "Performative Utterances"
Searle Ch 1-3 |
| Week 12 |
Speech |
| 11/11 |
Searle Ch 4&5 |
Also: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Reference", "Descriptions" "Assertions ", "Speech Acts" and "Implicature", as well as biographical entries on the writers. |
| 11/13 |
Searle Ch 6-8
Grice - "Logic and Conversation" and Studies in the Way of Words |
| Week 13 |
Back to the 'Mind' bit
|
| 11/18 |
Dretske Knowledge and the Flow of Information Ch 9.
Fodor LoT Ch 1&2 |
Also, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Concepts", "The Language of Thought Hypothesis" and "Mental Representation"
Fodor Concepts: Where Cognitive Science Went Wrong |
| 11/20 |
Fodor LoT Ch 3&4
|
| Week 14 |
More
|
| 11/25 |
Fodor "A Theory of Content" (Ch 3&4) |
Also: |
| 11/27 |
No Class- Thanksgiving Break
|
| Week 15 |
Contemporary Externalism |
| 12/2 |
Putnam "The Meaning of 'Meaning'" |
Chomsky "Language and the Problem of Knowledge" (M41)
Lewis "Languages and Language" (M40)
Also: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "Externalism about mental content" and "Narrow Mental Content" |
| 12/5 |
Burge "Individualism and the Mental" |
* - not in Hoover. I have copies of most of these in my office. I think. I'll have to look.
|
Dr. Peter Bradley