PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais
Philosophy Department
Kalamazoo College
Humphrey House #202
Telephone # 337-7076
Offices Hours:
 1) Mon. 2:00 - 3:30
 2) Tues. 10:30 - 11:30
 3) By Appointment.
 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
 
  Examination of some basic issues in the philosophy of language, with an emphasis upon speech-act theory.  We will first review selected issues in traditional semantics: the study of meaning, reference, truth and translation.  We will then turn to pragmatics or speech-act theory, the study of what we do with words.  We  close with a discussion of the significance of the philosophy of language for sociology, political science, psychology and literary analysis.
 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

  Students are required to (1) take bi-weekly vocabulary quizzes (30%), (2) write two midterm assignments (2 @ 15% = 30%) and (3) a final essay (25%).  Students will also be responsible for in-class presentations and discussion (15%).  Faithful attendance is expected, and active contribution to class discussion is required.  Three absences will result in the grade being lowered one full mark.  All assignments must be completed for a passing grade, and late assignments will be marked down a half a grade per day.
 
 

REQUIRED TEXTS:
 

 1.  Davis, Steven (ed.): Pragmatics (Oxford University Press, New York, 1991).

 2.  Searle, John: Expression and Meaning: Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1979). [Handouts]

3.  Habermas, Juergen:

  A.  "First Intermediate Reflection," Chapter 5 of The Theory of Communicative Action: Volume One.
  B.  "Toward a Critique of a Theory of Meaning," excerpted from Postmetaphysical Thinking(The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1992).  [Course Packet]
 

 4.  Bakhtin, M. M.  Speech Genre and Other Late Essays (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1986).

INTRODUCTION

TUESDAY:       WEEK ONE
 

 1.  Course Mechanics.

 2.  Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics: Three levels of abstraction.

1.  THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF SPEECH ACTS:

THURSDAY:

 1.  "What is a Speech Act" (John Searle, 1965).

 2.  "A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts" (John Searle, 1979).

TUESDAY:                                                                                              WEEK TWO

 1.  Reading of Amelia Bedelia (Cecilia Latiolais).

 2.  "Literal Meaning" (John Searle, 1979).

 3.  "Linguistic Communication: A Schema for Speech Acts" (Bach & Harnish 1979).

 4.  Quiz #1.

THURSDAY:
 

 1.  Review.

2.  SPEAKER MEANING AND SPEAKER REFERENCE:
 

TUESDAY:                                                                                                              WEEK THREE

 1. "Reference and Definite Descriptions" (Keith Donnellan, 1966).

 2.  "The Pragmatics of What is Said" (Francois Recanati, 1989).

THURSDAY:

 1.  "Referential and Attributive" (John Searle, 1979).

 2.  Quiz #2.

3.  INDEXICALS
 

TUESDAY:                                                                                                                          WEEK FOUR

 1. "Frege on Demonstratives" (John Perry, 1977).

 2. "How to Bridge the Gap Between Meaning and Reference" (Howard Wettstein, 1984).

THURSDAY:

 1.  Review

 2.  Midterm Assignment #1.

4.  INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS:

TUESDAY:                                                                                                                  WEEK FIVE

 1.  "Indirect Speech Acts" (John Searle, 1975).

 2.  "Intention and Convention in Speech Acts" (P. F. Strawson, 1974).

5.  CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE AND RELEVANCE.
 

THURSDAY:

 1. "Logic and Conversation" (H. P. Grice, 1968).

 2. "On Testing for Conversational Implicature" (Jerold M. Sadock, 1978).

6.  THE CLASSIFICATION, FUNCTIONS AND VALIDITY DIMENSIONS OF SPEECH-ACTS: COMMUNICATIVE VERSUS STRATEGIC ACTION:

TUESDAY:       WEEK SIX

 1.  "Intermediate Reflections: Social Action, Purposive Activity, and Communication," Chapter 5 of The Theory of Communicative Action: Volume One.

WEDNESDAY:

 Evening Movie: Glen Gary, Glen Ross (8:00 PM, Recital Hall FA).

THURSDAY:
 

 1.  "Intermediate Reflections: Social Action, Purposive Activity, and Communication" Chapter 5 of The Theory of Communicative Action: Volume One. (Continued).

 2.  Quiz #3.

TUESDAY:                                                                                                                   WEEK SEVEN

 1.  "Toward a Critique of a Theory of Meaning," excerpted from Postmetaphysical Thinking (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1992).

WEDNESDAY:

Evening Movie: Twelfth Night (8:00 PM, Recital Hall FA).

THURSDAY:

 1.  "Toward a Critique of a Theory of Meaning," excerpted from Postmetaphysical Thinking (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1992).

7.  THE PROBLEM OF SPEECH GENRES AND EMPIRICAL PRAGMATICS:

TUESDAY:                                                                                                           WEEK EIGHT

 1.  "The Problem of Speech Genres," from Bakhtin, M. M.  Speech Genre and Other Late Essays.

THURSDAY:
 

 1.  "The Problem of Speech Genres" (Continued).

 2.  Midterm Examination #2.

8.  THE EXTENSION OF SPEECH-ACT THEORY TO LITERARY DISCOURSE:

TUESDAY:                                                                                                                   WEEK NINE

 1.  "The Problem of the Text in Linguistics, Philology, and the Human Sciences: An Experiment in Philosophical Analysis," from Bakhtin, M. M.  Speech Genre and Other Late Essays.

THURSDAY:

 1.  Review:

9.  REVIEW AND EVALUATIONS:

TUESDAY:                                                                                                                   WEEK TEN

 1.  Review :

THURSDAY:

 1.  Review for Final Assignment.

 2.  Student Evaluations.

FINALS WEEK