Philosophy of Language (V5021)

15 credits, Level 5

Spring teaching

In this module, you focus on the nature of language in general and the meaning of particular kinds of expression.

You look at influential works of the analytic tradition by Frege, Russell, Quine, Grice, Kripke, Putnam and Davidson.

You consider the meaning of words, for example:  

• whether we should distinguish between sense or cognitive significance and reference
• how we manage to refer to things
• how to make sense of claims about necessity and about what people think
• how names and natural­kind terms work
• how we might respond to scepticism about meaning.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.