Professor Judith Genova

Armstrong 137; ext. 6563

Jgenova@coloradocollege.edu

 

PH 301

Twentieth Century

Analytic Philosophy

Course Description

Analytic Philosophy began 100 years ago this year with Bertrand Russell's famous paper, "On Denoting." 1905 was also the year of Einstein's ground-breaking paper on special relavativity. The two are not unconnected since the revolutions in both physics and logic are primarily responsible for many of the new philosophies that would emerge over the next 100 years.

Contrary to the overwhelming impression that Analytic Philosophy is strictly an Anglo-American affair, Russell's influences, Husserl, Meinong, Brentano, were the same as Heidegger's. In Germany, Gottlob Frege was inventing a new notation for logic and the Logical Positivists were originally a continental movement.

All these thinkers and many others to follow sought the overcoming of idealism and subjectivity. With language as their new subject of inquiry, they hoped to reinstate realism and objectivity and open new avenues for the study of meaning, reference and all the traditional problems of Philosophy.

Surveying the various developments through the century, we will examine Logical Analysis, Logical Positivism and Ordinary Language Philosophy.

 

Grades, Attendance, Expectations

Daily attendance and participation. This material is difficult and new to many of you. To succeed, you must commit a substantial amount of time to reading and reading and discussing with each other the main points of the text.

A signifies excellent work; B, good work, more than competent; C stands for competent and through; D equals just passing

No incompletes

20% of grade is based on class presentations; 20% on Mid-term exam; 60% on final paper

The final paper should be a research paper of at least 12-15 pages.

Texts

At the Bookstore

• The Frege Reader, ed. Michael Beaney
• Language, Truth, and Logic, A.J. Ayer
• How To Do Things With Words, J.L. Austin
• The Blue and Brown Books, Ludwig Wittgenstein
• Ontological Relativity and Other Essays, Willard Van Orman Quine

E-reserves

• "Analytic Philosophy: What, Whence, and Whither?" P.M.S. Hacker. The Story of Analytic Philosophy, eds. Anat Biletzki and Anat Matar
• " On the Origins of Analytic Philosophy," Barry Smith
• "Essential Distinctions, Edmund Husserl," Logical Investigations v. I
• "The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics," Alfred Tarski
• "On Denoting, " Bertrand Russell. Logic and Knolwedge

Library Reserve

• A Companion to Analytic Philosophy, eds. Martinich and Sosa

Schedule of Classes and Readings

WEEK I - Logical Analysis

Mon Sept 5 -----Introduction: An Historical Overview

Tues Sept 6 -----Frege, Introduction plus, "On Sinn and Bedeutung;" Also read "Analytic Philosophy... " by Hacker

Wed Sept 7-----Frege, "On Concept and Object," and "Thought"

Thur Sept 8-----Russell, "On Denoting," and Husserl, Essential Distinctions

Fri Sept 9.........Discussion continued; also read "On the Origins..." by Barry Smith

Week II - Logical Positivism

Mon Sept 12----- Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, Intro plus Chapters 1&2

Tues Sept 13----- " Chapters 3&4

Wed Sept 14-------- Chapters TBA

Thur Sept 15-------Wittgenstein, The Blue Book, pp vii-74

Fri Sept 16-------- Mid-Term Exam

Week III - Ordinary Language

Mon Sept 19-------Wittgenstein Discussion Continued, add Brown Book, pp 77-125

Tues Sept 20------Austin, How To Do...., Lectures 1-6

Wed Sept 21------No Class - reading time

Thur Sept 22-----Austin, Lectures 7-12

Fri Sept 23------Tarsky, "The Semantic Conception of Truth,"

Week IV

Mon Sept 26 ---------Quine, Ontological Relativity.... Chapters 1&2

Tues Sept 27------- Quine, Chapter 3

Wed Sept 28------No Class, Final Paper due

 

That's All Folks