We take a look at some central text about meaning from the Philosophy of Language. On this page you find the schedule and the reader. Please note that the schedule might change.

Schedule

Session

Date & Place

Chair

Talk

Readings

  1. Sense and Reference

4.10.

Rast

Burggraf

Frege (1892): "On Sense and Reference"

  1. Verificationism

11.10. Sala 0.06 I&D

Abreu

Abreu

Ayer (1936): Language, Truth and Logic. Ch. 3 & Appendix "The Principle of Verification" / Carnap (1950): "Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology"

  1. Analyticity

18.10. Sala 1.06 I&D

Rast

Guedes

Quine (1951): "Two Dogmas of Empiricism"

  1. Radical Translation

25.10. Sala 1.05 I&D

Abreu

Burggraf

Quine (1960): Word and Object, Ch. 2: "Meaning and Translation"

  1. Rule Following

1.11. Sala 1.05 I&D

Rast

Rast

Kripke (1982): Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language, Chapter 2 "The Wittgensteinian Paradox"

6. Davidson's Program

8.11. Sala 1.06 I&D

Abreu

Paiva

cancelled due to strike - postponed to following week

  1. Davidson's Program

15.11. Sala 1.06 I&D

Abreu

Paiva

Davidson (1967): "Truth and Meaning"

8.Radical Interpretation

22.11. Sala 1.05 I&D

Abreu

Burggraf

Davidson (1973): "Radical Interpretation"

  1. Natural Meaning and Speaker Meaning

29.11. Sala 1.05 I&D

Rast

Guedes

Grice (1957): "Meaning"

  1. Twin Earth, Externalism vs. Internalism

6.12. Sala 1.05 I&D

Rast

Paiva

Putnam (1975): "The Meaning of 'Meaning'"

11.

13.12. Sala 1.05 I&D

Abreu

Guedes

  1. Internalism, Naturalism

20.12.

Rast

Paiva

Chomsky (1995): "Language and Nature"

The three last sessions may be chosen from one of the following topics (depending on interests & preferences):

Topic

Suggested Readings

Externalist Mental Content & Social Externalism

Burge(1979): "Individualism and the Mental"

The Language of Thought Hypothesis

Fodor (1990): Psychosemantics, Chapter 1

Internalism & Naturalism

Chomsky (1995): "Language and Nature"

The Quest for an Ideal Language, Leibniz' lingua universalis and calculus raciocinator

Couturat (1901): La Logique de Leibniz, Ch. 3-4.

The Sapir-Whorf Thesis, Linguistic Relativism

Levinson (2009): "Language and Mind: Let's Get the Issues Straight!" / Levinson (2012): "Foreword to Language, Thought, and Reality"

Reader

Here is the reader. To open it, you need an archive utility that can handle 7z archives.

Sources

These are more detailed text references for your information which might not be the versions we will be using in every case.

Primary

Secondary

Contact

We can be found during workdays in the R&D building, 4th floor, from the elevator straight ahead to the left:

Instituto de Filosofia da Linguagem Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas – Universidade Nova de Lisboa Av. de Berna, 26 - 4º piso 1069-061 Lisboa Work phone: 00 351 217908300 - Ext.1527 Secretary: