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What is this thing called Philosophy of Language?

By Gary Kemp

Published February 28th 2013 by Routledge – 194 pages

Series: What is this thing called?

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Description

Philosophy of language explores some of the fundamental yet most technical problems in philosophy, such as meaning and reference, semantics, and propositional attitudes. Some of its greatest exponents, including Gottlob Frege, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell are amongst the major figures in the history of philosophy.

In this clear and carefully structured introduction to the subject Gary Kemp explains the following key topics:

  • the basic nature of philosophy of language and its historical development
  • early arguments concerning the role of meaning, including cognitive meaning vs expressivism, context and compositionality
  • Frege’s arguments concerning sense and reference; non-existent objects
  • Russell and the theory of definite descriptions
  • modern theories including Kripke and Putnam; arguments concerning necessity, analyticity and natural kind terms
  • indexicality, context and modality. What are indexicals?
  • Davidson’s theory of language and the ‘principle of charity’
  • propositional attitudes
  • Quine’s naturalism and its consequences for philosophy of language.

Chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary make this an indispensable introduction to those teaching philosophy of language and will be particularly useful for students coming to the subject for the first time.

Reviews

'To my mind this is the best introductory textbook for undergraduates looking to get a feel for the subject, without getting bogged down in advanced technical details. Gary Kemp covers all the traditional topics in the field and presents them in an accessible, engaging, and always rigorous style. Appended to each chapter are useful historical notes, a summary, a few questions, and some bibliographical recommendations for further research - a complete set of study aids that ought to be welcomed by students and teachers alike.' - Stefano Predelli, University of Nottingham, UK

'An easy, step by step journey through the classic themes of twentieth-century philosophy of language.' - François Recanati, Institut Jean Nicod, France

'Kemp has written a genuine introduction to the philosophy of language with beginning students in mind. Focusing on the issue of the meaning of natural language, he begins with a naive and, for students, very natural view of linguistic meaning. He then motivates and explains the distinctions, problems, solutions and development of the philosophy of language with the patience and understanding of a master teacher.' - Michael Losonsky, Colorado State University, USA

Contents

Preface Introduction 1. Naive Semantics 2. Fregean Semantics 3. Russellian Semantics 4. Kripke and Putnam on Naming, Necessity and Essence 5. Possible Worlds Semantics, Context and Indexicality 6. Pragmatics 7. The Propositional Attitudes 8. Davidson’s Philosophy of Language 9. Quine’s Philosophy of Language 10. Wittgenstein’s Alternative. Glossary Bibliography Index

Author Bio

Gary Kemp is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, UK.

Name: What is this thing called Philosophy of Language? (Paperback) – Routledge 
Description: By Gary Kemp. Philosophy of language explores some of the fundamental yet most technical problems in philosophy, such as meaning and reference, semantics, and propositional attitudes. Some of its greatest exponents, including Gottlob Frege, Ludwig Wittgenstein and...
Categories: Philosophy of Language, Linguistics, Language & Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics