A Companion to the Philosophy of Language

Written by an international assembly of leading philosophers, this volume provides a survey of contemporary philosophy of language. As well as providing a synoptic view of the key issues, figures, concepts and debates, each essay makes new and original contributions to ongoing debate. Topics covered include: rule following, modality, realism, indeterminacy of translation, inscrutability of reference, names and rigid destination, Davidson′s programme, meaning and verification, intention and convention, radical interpretation, tacit knowledge, metaphor, causal theories of semantics, objects and criteria of identity, theories of truth, force and pragmatics, essentialism, demonstratives, reference and necessity, identity, meaning and privacy of language, vagueness and the sorites paradox, holisms, propositional attitudes, analyticity.

Preface. Notes on Contributors. Part I: Meaning and Theories of Meaning. 1. Meaning and Truth Conditions: From Frege′s Grand Design to Davidson′s. (David Wiggins). 2. Meaning, Use, Verification. (John Skorupski). 3. Intention and Convention. (Anita Avramides). 4. Pragmatics. (Charles Travis). 5. A Guide to Naturalising Semantics. (Charles Travis). 6. Meaning and Privacy. (Edward Craig). 7. Tacit Knowledge. (Alexander Miller). 8. Radical Interpretation. (Jane Heal). 9. Propositional Attitudes. (Mark Richard). 10. Holism. (Christopher Peacocke). 11. Metaphor. (Richard Moran). Part II: Language, Truth and Reality. 12. Realism and its Oppositions. (Bob Hale). 13. Theories of Truth. (Ralph C. S. Walker). 14. Analyticity. (Paul Artin Boghossian). 15. Rule–following, Objectivity and Meaning. (Bob Hale). 16. The Interdeterminacy of Translation.(Crispin Wright). 17. Putnam′s Model–theoretical Argument against Metaphysical Realism. (Bob Hale and Crispin Wright). 18. Sorites. (R. M. Sainsbury and Timothy Williamson). Part III: Reference, Identity and Necessity. 19. Modality. (Bob Hale). 20. Essentialism. (Graeme Forbes). 21. Reference and Necessity. (Robert Stalnaker). 22. Names and Rigid Designation. (Jason Stanley). 23. Indexicals and Demonstratives. (John Perry). 24. Objects and Criteria of Identity. (E. J. Lowe). 25. Relative Identity. (Harold Noonan). Glossary. Index.

Bob Hale is Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. His philosophical interests lie mainly in the philosophy of mathematics and the philosophy of logic and language, and he has written numerous articles in all of these areas. He is also author of Abstract Objects (Blackwell Publishers, 1997). Crispin Wright is Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of St Andrews. He has published widely in the philosophy of mathematics, logic and language including Frege′s Conception of Numbers as Objects (1983), Truth and Objectivity (1992), and Realism, Meaning, and Truth, Second Edition (Blackwell Publishers, 1993).