In this course we will study the theories of meaning developed by both Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell, with special attention given to their views of the nature of propositions. Although their theories are different in many ways, they are still two of the most influential semantic theories in contemporary philosophy of language. And so the purpose of this course is twofold: First, from a historical perspective, we will study the original writings of Frege and Russell and how to best interpret them; and second, we will study more contemporary sources in philosophy that have developed theories of meaning which are heavily inspired by Frege and Russell. In the end, we aim to have a clear grasp of both the original theories in Frege and Russell and how they have shaped some of the current work in contemporary philosophy of language.
Structure: This advanced seminar will start with an initial lecture in the form of an overview of the main topics we will study. In the remaining meetings, students will be assigned articles or book chapters to present, which will then be discussed in class.
Literature:
• Nathan Salmon, Frege’s Puzzle. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986.
• Scott Soames, Philosophy of Language. Princeton University Press, 2012.
• Jeffrey King, Scott Soames, and Jeff Speaks, New Thinking About Propositions. Oxford University Press, 2016.
• Assorted articles provided in due course.
- Dozent/in: Fabio Lampert
- Dozent/in: Manuela Schlünß