Философия языка

Бакалавриат 2017/2018

Лучший по критерию «Полезность курса для расширения кругозора и разностороннего развития»

Статус: Курс обязательный (Философия)

Направление: 47.03.01. Философия

Кто читает: Школа философии

Когда читается: 2-й курс, 3 модуль

Формат изучения: Full time

Преподаватели: Макеева Лолита Брониславовна, Мишура Александр Сергеевич

Язык: русский

Кредиты: 3

Полная версия программы учебной дисциплины

Аннотация

This is an introduction to the central problems of the philosophy of language. It is divided in two parts: historical and contemporary. The historical part traces the conceptual relations between the philosophy of language and various topics in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, political philosophy and philosophy of history. Topics in the philosophy of language will be discussed in their continuity with other philosophical problems. Ancient philosophers discovered that in every field of philosophical inquiry, one has to face, sooner or later, issues concerning the nature of language and its role in human life. Thus, for authors such as Plato and Augustine, solving metaphysical and epistemological problems often involved sophisticated discussions of puzzles concerning language. This methodological role of the philosophy of language will be discussed with reference to five classics from the history of Western philosophy: Plato, Augustine, Aquinas, Hobbes, and Rousseau. The second, contemporary part of the course focuses on philosophy of language in 20th-century analytic philosophy. Students will read classics of the analytic tradition (Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Strawson, Austin, and Grice) and be introduced to a number of notions, distinctions, and problems that form the background and toolbox of contemporary philosophy of language. The course as whole aims to bring out how the philosophy of language fits into philosophy more generally, and how contemporary philosophy of language fits into the history of Western philosophy.

Цель освоения дисциплины

Introduction to the discussion of language in some major figures of the Western philosophical tradition.
Introduction to the major notions, distinctions, and problems in contemporary philosophy of language within the analytic tradition.

Планируемые результаты обучения

Master Frege's distinction between sense and reference, and the problems it was supposed to solve
Master Frege's distinctions between the act of judging the act of thinking, and the thought, construed as a mind-independent abstract entity. Master also Frege's correlative distinction between the thought, the expression of a thought, and an assertion, and the related distinction between force and content
Master Frege's motivations for introducing thoughts as mind-independent abstract entities (avoid psychologism and vindicate the objectivity and communicability of thoughts).
Master Russell's analysis of definite description and its philosophical motivations.
Master the notion of "reference presupposition" introduced by Strawson and his critique of Russell's theory of definite descriptions.
Master Wittgenstein's views about the nature of philosophical problems and their origins in the misleading character of language. Ability to connect these views to passages in the "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" and "the Philosophical Investigations."
Master Austin's distinction between constative and performative utterances
Master Austin tripartite of speech acts into locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts; master the notion of uptake and the distinction between perlocutionary object and perlocutionary effect; be able to discuss how Austin's analysis to Frege's distinction between force and content.
Master Grice's distinction between logical implication and different forms of implicature; his notion of speaker meaning and how it differs from linguistic meaning; and how this relates to the distinction between semantics and pragmatics.
Capacity to describe the goal of a foundational theory of meaning and give some examples
Master the distinction between sign symbol on Wittgenstein's Tractatus and its implications to the possibility of a foundational theory of meaning.
Grasp the similarities between Wittgenstein's discussion of signs and symbols in the Tractatus and his discussion of dead signs, living sings, and use in the later works.
Master later Wittgenstein's critique of ostensive definitions as the foundation of language
Master Frege's distinction between concept, objects, and functions. Capacity to analyze sentences in accordance with Frege's framework.
understands the problem of false judgements
formulates Plato's solution to the problem of false judgements
knows Augustine's theory of signs
knows the general features of medieval theories of analogical predications
understands the conceptual relations between Hobbe's philosophy of language and political philosophy
knows Rousseau's theory of the origins of language

Содержание учебной дисциплины

Speaking about Nothing: Plato on Being and Non-being
Language and ontology. Puzzles concerning speaking about non-being and Plato's solution of these puzzles in The Sophist.
Learning by Signs: Augustine on Teaching
Language and epistemology. Augustine's philosophy of language. Puzzles about the possibility of learning through language.
Names of God: Aquinas on Analogical Predication
Language and philosophy of religion. Puzzles concerning the predication of attributes to divine being. Medieval theories of analogical predication. Aquinas's view on divine names.
State by Words: Hobbes on language and politics
Language and political philosophy. Puzzles concerning the relation between the emergence of political entity and the emergence of language. Hobbes's solutions to these puzzles.
The Origins of Language: Rousseau on the Function of Language.
Language and philosophy of history. Puzzles about the function and purpose of language. The solutions of these puzzles in Rousseau's philosophy of history.
Frege on sense and reference
Frege's distinction between the sense and reference
Frege on thought, thinking, and judgment
Frege's distinction between the thought, thinking, and judgment; the correlative distinction between thought, expression of a thought, and assertion; the related distinction between force and content.
Russell on definite descriptions
Russell analysis of definite descriptions
Strawson on reference and presupposition
Strawson's critique of Russell's theory of descriptions: reference is presupposed
Wittgenstein on philosophy as a critique of language
Wittgenstein on the nature of philosophical problems and their origins in the misleading character of language
Wittgenstein on theories of meaning
Wittgenstein's conception of linguistic signs (in both his early and later work) and its implications for the possibility of a theory of meaning
Austin's theory of speech acts
Austin's contrast between constative and performative utterances, and his analysis of speech acts into locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts
Grice on implicature and speaker meaning
Grice's notions of implicature and speaker meaning, and the distinction between semantics and pragmatics.

Элементы контроля

Final Essay
Students can choose to get the final grade without writing the final essay. It is only possible when they have 4 or more according to formula: First Essay*0,5+Auditory Work*0,5.
First Essay
(700-1000 words) on a topic decided by the instructors or approved by the instructors
Active participation in lectures and seminars

Промежуточная аттестация

Interim assessment (3 module)
0.33 * Active participation in lectures and seminars + 0.33 * Final Essay + 0.34 * First Essay

Программа дисциплины