Einführung in die Theoretische Philosophie: Sprachphilosophie

1. Einführung in die Theoretische Philosophie: Sprachphilosophie Nathan Wildman

2. Lecture 1: An Introduction to An Introduction to Theoretical Philosophy: The Philosophy of Language

3. Matters for Today • Organizational Formalities • Philosophy of Language: What, Why, & How • Philosophy of Language Fundamentals

4. Organizational Formalities Or, the administrative details required to make this course run

5. Organizational Formalities Course Aims • To allow students to think carefully about issues raised by philosophically reflecting upon language (‘…something which no self-respecting philosopher, from any school at all, can hope to avoid.’ – Blackburn, Spreading the Word, pp. vii)) • To enable students to grasp philosophically important points as well as appreciate the philosophical issues they stem from

6. Organizational Formalities Course Goals To that end, students will be expected to: • Acquire knowledge of some of the main claims and arguments concerning philosophy of language • Acquire an understanding of how these claims and arguments relate to one another • Engage in close criticism with the claims and arguments studied • Develop their own powers of philosophical analysis and argument

7. Organizational Formalities Strategy Central Topics & Seminal Papers • G. Frege. ‘On Sense and Reference’ • B. Russell. ‘On Denoting’ & ‘Descriptions’ • S. Kripke ‘Naming & Necessity’ (parts thereof) • H. P. Grice ‘Meaning’ & ‘Logic and Conversation’ • J. Austin ‘Performative Utterances’

8. Organizational Formalities Preliminary Schedule • Week 1 (04.04): Intro to Phil-Lang • Week 2 (11.04): NO CLASS • Week 3 (18.04): Frege’sOn Sense & Reference • Week 4 (25.04): More Sense, More Reference • Week 5 (02.05): Russell’s Definite Descriptions • Week 6 (09.05): NO CLASS • Week 7 (16.05): Problems with Definite Descriptions • Week 8 (23.05): NO CLASS • Week 9 (30.05): Kripke’sCausal Theory of Names • Week 10 (06.06): More on the Causal Theory • Week 11 (13.06): Grice on Meaning • Week 12 (20.06): Austin on Speech Acts • Week 13 (27.06): Grice on Logic & Conversation • Week 14 (04.04): TBD • Week 15 (11.07): Exam Reference/ Singular Terms Pragmatics & Speech Acts

9. Organizational Formalities Certificate Acquisition Conditions • Regular attendance to both lectures and tutorials • Regular participation in tutorials • Completion and Passing of weekly assignments • Passing the final exam

10. Organizational Formalities Grading Policy

11. Organizational Formalities Grading Policy • 10% Attendance & Participation in Tutorials • Show up, talk, be a part of the ‘learning experience’ • 30% Assignment Grades • Best Three Grades, taken together • 60% Final Exam Grade • Details included below

12. Organizational Formalities Tutors Christian Folde christian.folde@gmx.de Mira Viehstädt mira@acrotanz.de Lucy Schwarz lucia.schwarz@studium.uni-hamburg.de

13. Organizational Formalities Tutorial Times Tuesday, 12:00 – 14:00 Room 1052 Wednesday, 12:00 – 14:00 Room 1072 Wednesday, 16:00-18:00 Room 1009

14. Organizational Formalities • Nathan Wildman • 6439733 • rid117@gmail.com • Philosophie • Chemistry, Physik • BA • 2 • NOT REGISTERED • (Wahlbereich) • Tues 12, Wed 14, Wed 12 • I‘m interested in understanding the relation between names and the things they refer to. Tutorial Registration • Name: • Matriculation Number: • E-Mail: • Studium: • Fächer: • Angestrebter Abschluss: • Fachsemester: • Registered on STINE: • Rank ordering of tutorials! • Why are you taking the class?

15. Organizational Formalities Weekly Assignments • Will consist of questions concerning material already covered in lecture mixed with questions about the assigned reading for the upcoming week • These will be made available on the course webpage, available here: http://nwwildman.wordpress.com/ • Submit them to your tutor before your tutorial!

16. Organizational Formalities Reading Most can be found in • A. Martinich, The Philosophy of Language, 5th edition (2008, OUP) A copy of this is reserved in the library The texts are also available online here: www.jstor.orgwww.philpapers.org

17. Organizational Formalities Reading However, I will also ensure that links to the reading are on the course website, on the ‘Readings’ page. The password for this page is B@tm@n This means there is no excuse for not doing the reading!

18. Organizational Formalities Reading A few general introductions to Philosophy of Language: • W. Lycan (2000) Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge) • M. Morris (2006) An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language (CUP) • S. Blackburn (1984) Spreading the Word (OUP) These are also on reserve in the Library/ will be made available on the website

19. Organizational Formalities Reading • Where possible, both German and English copies of the texts have been reserved • Note : I – being the poor (mostly) monolingual sod that I am – will be talking exclusively about the English versions of the readings • Suggestion: Read the English version first. If you are struggling mightily, read the German version. Then come back to the English

20. Organizational Formalities Reading Frequently, the readings will be difficult, meaning you will: • need to read the assignment thoroughly and carefully; & • likely have to read the paper more than once in order to process everything Please do so!

21. Organizational Formalities EXAM DETAILS • True & False Questions – 10% • Multiple Choice Questions – 15% • Short Answer – 25% • Essay Questions – 50%

22. Essay & Exam Technique An analytic philosophy essay consists of a reasoned defence of some claim or claims. Two consequences of this definition. First, philosophy essays must offer an argument. A mere report of opinion or historical fact is interesting, but not philosophy. Second, philosophy essays must include reasons to believe what is asserted – that is the core of analytic philosophy! Bad: ‘My view is that P’ Bad: ‘Frege’s view was that P’ Good: ‘Frege’s view was that P because of reasons X & Y’ Good: ‘Reasons X & Y provide reasons for believing that P’

23. Essay & Exam Technique Aims of an analytic philosophy paper: • Begins by advancing thesis • Follows this up with an argument for said thesis Then some variation of the following: • Criticizing the argument • Defending argument from objections • Offer support for thesis • Offer counter-examples to thesis • Discuss consequences of thesis • Revise thesis in light of insurmountable objection

24. Essay & Exam Technique • Lazy: he does not want to figure out what your convoluted metaphors and sentences are supposed to mean, nor what your argument is if it is not made obvious. • Stupid: you will have to explain everything you say in simple, bit-sized pieces, making the connections obvious and explicit. • Mean: he is not going to give you any charity. If something you say admits of more than one interpretation, he is going to assume you meant the least plausible one.

25. Essay & Exam Technique A good philosophy essay is modest, making a small point. However, this point is made clearly, straightforwardly, and carefully, offering good reasons in support. Students frequently try to accomplish too much with a philosophy paper. This usually results in essays that are inadequate in their argumentation/too grand in their scope. Do not fall into this trap. Remain focused on your point! • Analytic philosophy sacrifices wideness of scope in exchange for clarity. This is a good trade – especially once you see that wideness of scope is frequently a product of fuzzy reasoning, loose definitions, or jumping to unwarranted conclusions.

26. Essay & Exam Technique What about exams? The answer is easy: the same rules still apply! • Exam essays should be structured in the same way as papers: have a thesis (in this case, the answer to the question asked), and this thesis should be supported by an argument (which forms the core of the exam answer). But, you might ask, about the material? I.e. what about your demonstrating that you know all of the information that you’ve read/picked up in the lectures/gathered from the Ether?

27. Essay & Exam Technique You still have plenty of opportunity to display your knowledge of the material, within the context of the argument you provide within the essay. A lot of time is spent setting the questions. The questions are designed so that an answer (and the argument in support thereof) cannot be phrased or expressed without also expressing the affiliated material.

28. Essay & Exam Technique Philosophers are not fact-reporting machines; they do not simply repeat material they have been told. Philosophers are argument-making machines; they take in material, digest it, and produce arguments using said material. Since this is a philosophy class, we are going to develop & test your philosophical ability – i.e. your ability to make an argument. Of course, we also want to test your knowledge of the material - that’s why the questions are about what they are about!

29. Essay & Exam Technique So what then are the basic rules for an exam essay? • Have an answer to the question asked (i.e. a thesis) • Make this answer explicit – frequently this will involve stating the thesis in the first line or two • Have an argument for your thesis • Make your argument explicit • Employ your knowledge of the relevant material within your argument – use what you know in your answer!

30. Essay & Exam Technique Basic MarkingCriteria • Doesitanswerthequestionset? • Istheargumentclearandwellorganized? • Do theanswerincludethe relevant material we‘veread & discussed? • Doestheauthorshow a clearunderstandingoftheissuestheyarewritingabout? • How strong istheargumentoffered?

31. Essay & Exam Technique More specifically, we will be asking questions like: • Did you clearly state your answer to the question asked? • Do you present the relevant material correctly? • Is the material that you employ relevant to argument you are making? • Do you offer supporting arguments for your answer and for any supplemental claims you make? • Are these arguments clear and well-structured? • Is the overall structure of the answer clear? Is it obvious how your answer is a consequence of the argument you have given?

32. The What, Why, & How of Philosophy of Language Or, motivating, explicating, & generally justifying this course

33. What, Why, How? 1. Syntax A purely formal study of the rules concerning what counts as well-formed expression (‘grammatical’) within a particular language vs

34. What, Why, How? 2. Semantics The study of the meaning of expressions within a language. Closely tied up with notions of truth and reference

35. What, Why, How? 3. Pragmatics Study of how speakers perform or act using language. Looks at how we use words to promise, insult, swear, enrage, apologize, forgive, etc. ‘A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat.’

36. What, Why, How? • History • Lots of ink has been split on the topic • Anthropology • Thinking carefully about language might tell us something deep and important about what it is to be human • Brute Curiosity • It’s interesting, weird, and fun to think about!

37. What, Why, How? 4. Language as a guide to reality By understanding the structure of language, we better understand the structure of reality • E.g. Sentences have subject-predicate form (‘Socrates is wise’), therefore reality must have subjects-predicate structure (i.e. be made up of complex facts and/or particulars + properties) • Wittgenstein’s Tractatus

38. What, Why, How? 5. Language as the cause of/pathway to avoiding error By getting clear about language, we can come to resolve/avoid apparently intractable problems, philosophical and otherwise • Alice & the King, Odysseus & Polyphemus, • Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations • I. Hacking, Why does Language Matter for Philosophy?

39. What, Why, How? How to do philosophy of language?!?! Some: look at how ordinary people use words Others: look at how a logically idealized language works Better: somewhere between these two extremes • Careful, logical argumentation, mixed with empirical evidence (where & when available)

40. Fundamentals of Philosophy of Language Or, what we’ll need to know in order to make sense of what we’re going to talk about

41. Use versus Mention Cookie Monster • Has bright blue fur • Has a crippling addiction • Is not written in any font ‘Cookie Monster’ • Lacks fur (but is a lovely ebony colour) • Has thirteen letters • Is written Minion Pro

42. Use versus Mention Cookie Monster has bright blue fur ‘Cookie Monster has bright blue fur’

43. Use versus Mention When I want to talk about an expression, I mention it. • To talk about CM’s name, I mention ‘Cookie Monster’ • To talk about Prof. Schnieder’sname, I mention ‘Schnieder’ An Analogy: akin to examining the doorway, instead of passing through it

44. Use versus Mention Something funny just happened ‘If I talk about CM’s name, I mention ‘Cookie Monster’.’ In this sentence, I used ‘‘Cookie Monster’’ • To use words, we don’t need to quote them, but to use the names of words, we do! • We can iterate quotation marks to ensure that we are always being clear about use and mention.

45. Use versus Mention

46. Use versus Mention In technical terms, when I want to talk about what an expression refers to, I use it. To talk about Cookie Monster, I use his name. To talk about Prof. Schnieder, I use his name. Think of expressions like doorways. Using an expression is like using a doorway – you just pass right through it to what’s beyond.

47. Object vs Meta, Formal vs Natural-Language Take a language to be a collection of terms, the formulation rules for constructing expressions, and the semantic relations the expressions stand in (so a language L = L’s syntax + L’s semantics). Suppose that we want to talk about L or about the expressions within L. This might not be part of L!

48. Object vs Meta, Formal vs Natural-Language Take the following language: Arabic Numeration Notation (ANN for short) Ten primitive terms: ‘0’ refers to the number 0 ‘1’ refers to the number 1 … ‘9’ refers to the number 9

49. Object vs Meta, Formal vs Natural-Language How do we know that ‘767’ refers to 767? The Rule: Suppose A, ..., An is a sequence of digits referring to the number k. Suppose B is an individual digit referring to a number j. Then the sequence A,…,AnB refers to the number (10 x k) + j ‘767’ is the sequence ‘76’ with ‘7’ at the end. By Rule, it refers to (10 x whatever ‘76’ refers to) + what ‘7’ refers to (which was specified in the previous slide as one of the primitive terms!) Applying Rule again, ‘76’ refers to (10 x whatever ‘7’ refers to) + what ‘6’ refers to. Since we know those already, we know what ‘767 refers to!

50. Object vs Meta, Formal vs Natural-Language Note that “‘7’ refers to the number 7” isn’t something expressable in ANN –ANN’s syntax prevents the formulation of such an expression (same thing with the rule!) But such expressions are within some language – English in this case – which we can use to talk about ANN. • ANN is the object language – the language we are talking about • English is the metalanguage – the language with which we talk about the object language