Philosophy of Language

Code:

FILO014

Acronym:

FILLIN

Instance: 2012/2013 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Philosophy
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Philosophy

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
FILO	49	FILO - Study Plan	3	-	6	4

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

1. The main objective of this subject is to provide an introduction to the themes of sense and reference and, more generally, the relationship between language, thought and the world in philosophy of language. To achieve this objective, students will study the main authors in the history of philosophy of language since the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, namely G. Frege, B. Russell and L. Wittgenstein.
2. Another objective is to provide knowledge of the history of philosophy of language in this period in order to recognise that contemporary problems are rooted in it.

3. A further objective is to help students to understand the relationship between philosophy of language and history of analytic philosophy Since philosophy of language is central, particularly to analytic philosophy, most of the Programme will be dedicated to this, and be concentrated in Part II, with the practical analysis of the literature. In order to contextualise Part II, Part I will begin with a reference to empirical studies of language. Students should identify and compare philosophical and scientific approaches to language. In order for students to be able to understand the more general philosophical context of research into philosophy of language in the area of analytic philosophy, the Programme will finish with a brief reference to the theory of language in other philosophical traditions.


Practical objectives
Successful students should be able to:
(i) demonstrate their ability to address contemporary research on language based on historical facts;
(ii) demonstrate their knowledge of the classical texts studied in class;
(iii) carry out research projects.

Program

PART I – Philosophy of language and sciences of language
1. The study of language: philosophy of language and sciences of language. Basic terminology for the study of language. Syntax, semantics, pragmatics. Natural languages and formal languages. Competence and performance. Use and mention. Sentence, proposition, elocution. Paraphrase. Ambiguity. Aphasia.
2. Philosophy of language and the problem of thought-language-world relationship. First reference to G. Frege: Begriffsschrift and the Context Principle.
3. Sciences of language. A revolution in Linguistics: N. Chomsky. Brain and language. Human language and animal languages. The perspective of psycholinguistics: mental lexicon, semantic networks, models of production and understanding of speech.

PART II – Sense and reference: history of philosophy of language
1. G. Frege: from Frege’s philosophical project to the theses on sense and reference in Über Sinn und Bedeutung. Systematic study of Über Sinn und Bedeutung (1892). Frege’s puzzle. Sense and reference of singular terms, simple assertive sentences and complex sentences.
2. B. Russell: from the philosophy of logical atomism to the Theory of Definite Descriptions. The difference between ‘refer’ and ‘denote’: systematic study of On Denoting (1905). Frege and Russell, ontology and epistemology: a comparison. Criticism of the theories which refer directly to Frege and Russell’s descriptive theories.
3. L. Wittgenstein.
3.1 A theory of language as model (Bild). Systematic study of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The status of Logic and the role of the philosophical subject in Tractatus.
3.2 The meaning of use: a study of Philosophical Investigations (1953). Private language. Following rules. Pluralism and pragmatism.
4. Philosophy of language after Wittgenstein. Ordinary language: from speech act theory to pragmatics. Language in W. V. Quine and D. Davidson’s programmes. Metaphor: the nature of non-literal meaning.

PART III – Non-analytic philosophy of language
The status of language in philosophical projects by Heidegger, Habermas, Foucault and Derrida.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theory-practical classes: lectures on the materials addressed; applying the knowledge (in correlation with the discussion of particularly relevant examples, and solving exercises).

keywords

Humanities > Philosophy > Semiotics
Humanities > Philosophy > Logic
Humanities > language sciences > Linguistics

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	52,00
Final examination	Exame	3,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
Study of contents and texts (final examination and essay, if applicable)	Estudo autónomo	107
	Total:	107,00

Eligibility for exams

According to the regulations in force.

Calculation formula of final grade

Final exam: 70%. Written assignment: 30%.

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

In accordance with the Regulations in force.

Classification improvement

In accordance with the Regulations in force.