Philosophy 500, Introduction to Contemporary Philosophical Literature, Fall 2016 Thurs: 2:00

Home , Arthur Prior, Concept and object, Naming and Necessity, Robert Stalnaker

Philosophy 500, Introduction to Contemporary Philosophical Literature, Fall 2016 Thurs: 2:00 - 4:20 Scott Soames, STO 223, and MHP 107, (213)-740-0798, [email protected], website: http://dornsife.usc.edu/scottsoames, Office hours: F 10-11:30 and by appointment. Jeremy Goodman, MHP 205b, (301)-461-6088, [email protected], Office hours: by appointment. Description An advanced introduction to leading philosophers in the analytic tradition from Frege (1879) to the present. Topics center on philosophical logic, the philosophy of language, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind. Texts Weekly readings available from Hoose, the net, online, and, on occasion, the MHP office Books on Reserve in the Hoose Library Almog, et al Themes From Kaplan Ned Block ed. Readings in Philosophy of Psychology Vol.1 Peter Geach, Max Black, eds. Translations from the Philosophical Writings of Gottlob Frege Rudolf Carnap The Logical Syntax of Language Gottlob Frege Foundations of Arithmetic (translated by Austin) J. Hawthorne, D. Manley The Reference Book Robin Jeshion New Essays on Singular Thought David Lewis Philosophical Papers (Volume 1) _____ Counterfactuals _____ Papers in Metaphysics and Epistemology Saul Kripke Naming and Necessity _____ Philosophical Troubles Arthur Prior Objects of Thought Hilary Putnam Mind, Language, and Reality: Philosophical Papers, Vol. 2 W.V. Quine Ways of Paradox Scott Soames The Analytic Tradition, Vol. 1 (ATP1 ____ Philosophy of Language (PL) ____ Rethinking Language, Mind, and Meaning (RTMM) Robert Stalnaker Inquiry Peter Ludlow, ed. Readings in the Philosophy of Language

Course Requirements In addition to reading assignments, there will be weekly written assignments, 1200–1500 words in length, on specified topics, due electronically 48 hours before the class. The assignments will be returned with comments 24 hours prior to the meeting, and will be discussed, with new material, during the seminar. Credit and Grading Students will be graded on their written assignments and oral participation. With the exception of class participation – which, at the discretion of the instructor, may be taken into account for up to 10% “extra credit” for the course – the weekly essays will be the sole determinants of the grade. Students completing the course will receive normal seminar credit.

Schedule of Topics and Readings Weeks 1-3: Frege Week 1: Frege, The Foundations of Arithmetic, sections 1-4, 45-57, 60-63, 68-69, and 70-83. Students should, before the first class, read as much as they can of the Frege. Sections 2, 4, 5 of ATP1 may be consulted as needed for background.

Week 2: Frege “On Sense and Reference” and “Concept and Object” in Geach and Black; Prior “Platonism and Quantification” in Prior; Pp. 7-20 of PL and sections 1, 2, 4 of ATP1 may be consulted as needed. Week 3: Frege, “The Thought” in Ludlow; Perry, “Frege on Demonstratives” in Ludlow; Kripke, “Frege’s Theory of Sense and Reference” in Kripke; Pp. 7-20 and sections 3, 7 of chapter 2 ATP1 may be consulted as needed. Weeks 4: Russell Bertrand Russell “On Denoting” (available online) available online. Pp. 20-32 of PL and chapter 8 of ATP 1 may be consulted as needed.

Weeks 5: Truth and Meaning Tarski “Truth and Proof” (xerox), Chapter 2 of PL, a brief selection from Dummet “Truth,” (xerox)

Week 6: The Linguistic Theory of the Apriori Selections from Carnap The Logical Syntax of Language, Quine, “Truth by Convention” in Block; xerox of a selection from chapter 9 of ATP2 (forthcoming).

Weeks 7-8: Kripke - Putnam Kripke Naming and Necessity; Putnam “The Meaning of ‘Meaning’” in Putnam; Soames, “Kripke on Epistemic and Metaphysical Possibility” website; For summary of key Kripkean concepts see pp. 77-91 of PL.

Week 9-10: Semantics, Pragmatics, and Context Sensitivity Kaplan “Demonstratives” in Almog. We will not work through the formal system so you may wish to consult pp. 50-56 and 93-105 of PL for background; Salmon “Demonstrating and Necessity” online; Soames chapter 7 of PL gives some broader context; Lewis “Scorekeeping in a Language Game” in Vol 1 Phil Papers; optional A. Kratzer “Modality,” sections 1 and 2, online.

Week 11: Belief, Quantification, and Quantifying in Kaplan “Quantifying In” online; Quine “Quantifiers and Propositional Attitudes” in Quine; Salmon, “Three Perspectives on Quantifying In” in Jeshion and online; selection from Hawthorne and Manley, The Reference Book.

Week 12: Propositional Attitudes and Singular Thought, Kripke “A Puzzle about Belief” in Kripke; Stalnaker, chapter 1 of Inquiry, Jennifer Saul, “Substitution and Simple Sentences,” Analysis 57.2, 1997; Soames chapter 4 of RLMM.

Week 13: Putnam, Lewis, and Kripke on Mind and Body Putnam “The Nature of Mental States” in Putnam; Lewis, “An Argument for the Identity Theory” in Vol 1 Phil Papers, “Psychophysical and Theoretical Identifications” in Papers in M&E; Kripke pp. 150-154 of Naming and Necessity; Soames, “Kripke on Mind-Body Identity” website.

Week 14: Counterfactuals Lewis, chapters 1,2 4 Counterfactuals. For simple discussion and background see pp. 56-61 of PL. Also Dorothy Edgington, “Indicative Conditionals,” sections 1. 2. 4.1, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; Optional. A. Kratzer “Modality” sections 3 and following.