Note: Everything on this
schedule is tentative! We may make adjustments, possibly even major adjustments,
as needed. I will keep the online version up to date.
| Date | Topic | Assignment |
| Wed, Aug 22 | Introduction to the Class | |
| Mon, Aug 27 | Russell's Logical Atomism I | Philosophy of Logical Atomism, lectures 1-3 (lectures 1-2: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/27900704.pdf; lectures 3-4: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/27900724.pdf) |
| Wed, Aug 29 | Russell's Logical Atomism II | Philosophy of Logical Atomism, lectures
4-6 (for lecture 4 see link above; lecxtures 5-6: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/27900737.pdf) |
| Mon, Sept 3 | NO CLASS - LABOR DAY | |
| Wed, Sept 5 | Russell's Logical Atomism III; Lycan on Reference and Meaning and Definite Descriptions | Philosophy of Logical Atomism, lectures 7-8 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/27900748.pdf) |
| Mon, Sept 10 | Reference and Meaning; Definite Descriptions | Lycan, chapter 1-2 |
| Wed, Sept 12 | Traditional Theories | Lycan chapter 5; Locke handout |
| Mon, Sept 17 | "Use" Theories | Lycan, chapter 6; Wittgenstein, Investigations through section 120 (handout) |
| Wed, Sept 19 | Grice's program | Lycan, chapter 7 |
| Mon, Sept 24 | verificationism I | A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, selections |
| Wed, Sept 26 | verificationism II | A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, further selections; Lycan, chapter 8 |
| Mon, Oct 1 | verificationism III | W. V. Quine, "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" |
| Wed, Oct 3 | truth-conditions theories | Lycan, chapters 9-10 paper proposal due |
| Mon, Oct 8 | catch-up day; review for midterm exam | no new reading |
| Wed, Oct 10 |
MIDTERM EXAM |
|
| Mon, Oct 15 | Kripke I | Naming and Necessity, lecture 1 |
| Wed, Oct 17 | Kripke II | Naming and Necessity, lecture 2 |
| Mon, Oct 22 | Kripke III | Naming and Necessity, lecture 3; Lycan, chapters 3-4 |
| Wed, Oct 24 | introduction to pragmatics | Lycan, chapters 11-12 |
| Mon, Oct 29 | Douglas Hofstadter Visit! | Douglas R. Hofstadter, Le Ton beau de Marot, chapters 10-11 |
| Wed, Oct 31 | speech acts | J. L. Austin, "Performatives" (handout) |
| Mon, Nov 5 | speech acts and conversations | Lycan, chapter 13; Grice, "Logic and Conversation" |
| Wed, Nov 7 | Metaphor | Lycan, chapter 14; C. S. Lewis, "Bluspels and Flalansferes" |
| Mon, Nov 12 | paper presentations | Presenters: Jack K,
|
| Wed, Nov 14 | paper presentations | Presenters: Cinco, Ben, Darren |
| Mon, Nov 19 | paper presentation and TBA |
Presenter: Lizhu, Jack N |
| Wed, Nov 21 |
NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING BREAK |
|
| Mon, Nov 26 | Language & Thought I: Philosophical Themes |
FINAL PAPER DUE (note: moved from Nov.
19) Selections from Benjamin Lee Whorff, George Orwell, Steven Pinker, and Stephanie Ross |
| Wed, Nov 28 | Language & Thought II: Empirical Issues | Papers by Lera Boroditsky and colleagues |
| Mon, Dec 3 | Innateness of Syntax; review for final exam | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on whether syntax is innate: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/innateness-language/ |
| Thursday, Dec 13 |
FINAL EXAM (3:30 PM) |