The Meaning Of Language

Philosophy of language is one of the hardest areas for the beginning student; it is full of difficult questions technical arguments, and jargon. Written in a straightforward and explanatory way and filled with examples, this text provides a comprehensive introduction to the field, suitable for students with no background in the philosophy of language or formal logic.The eleven chapters in the book's first part take up a variety of matters connected to questions about what language is for - what meaning has to do with people's ideas and intentions, and with social communication. Included are chapters on the innateness controversy, the private language argument, the possibility of animal and machine language, language as rule-governed or conventional behavior, and the speech act theory.In the second part, thirteen chapters concentrate on what language is about; treating sense and reference, extensionality, truth conditions, and the theories of proper names, definite descriptions, indexicals, general terms, and psychological attributions.Many recent books and courses in the philosophy of language treat the issues and approaches covered in the first or second part of this book; however, this is the first time they are presented together (although either part may be read and/or taught independently). The book's style is pedagogic, not polemical. It shows students how much has been accomplished by philosophers of language in this century while making them keenly aware of the fundamental controversies that remain.Robert Martin is an associate professor of philosophy at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A Bradford Book.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I Language and Minds
Chapter 1 The Structure of Language 7
Chapter 2 Meanings as Ideas 19
Chapter 3 Innateness 29
Chapter 4 Going on in the Same Way 35
Chapter 5 The Private Language Argument 45
Chapter 6 Radical Translation 53
Chapter 7 Rules 65
Chapter 8 Conventions 77
Chapter 9 Speech Acts 83
Chapter 10 Animal and Machine Language 97
Part II Language and Things
Chapter 11 Function and Object 111
Chapter 12 Quantifiers 123
Chapter 13 Definite Descriptions 133
Chapter 14 Extensionality 143
Chapter 15 Modal Contexts and Possible Worlds 151
Chapter 16 Proper Names 161
Chapter 17 More on Proper Names and Definite Descriptions 171
Chapter 18 Psychological Contexts 177
Chapter 19 Sense and Reference 183
Chapter 20 Indexicals 191
Chapter 21 General Terms 197
Chapter 22 Truth and Meaning 207
Chapter 23 The Boundaries of Meaning 217
Anthologies Cited 225
Index 227