Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction

By William G. Lycan

Book Overview

Now in its third edition, Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction introduces students to the main issues and theories in twenty-first-century philosophy of language, focusing specifically on linguistic phenomena. Author William G. Lycan structures the book into four general parts. Part I, Reference and Referring, includes topics such as Russell's Theory of Descriptions (and its objections), Donnellan's distinction, problems of anaphora, the Description Theory of proper names, Searle's Cluster Theory, and the Causal-Historical Theory. Part II, Theories of Meaning, surveys the competing theories of linguistic meaning and compares their various advantages and liabilities. Part III, Pragmatics and Speech Acts, introduces the basic concepts of linguistic pragmatics and includes a detailed discussion of the problem of indirect force. Part IV, The Expressive and the Figurative, examines various forms of expressive language and what "metaphorical meaning" is and how most listeners readily grasp it.

Features of Philosophy of Language include:

chapter overviews and summaries;

clear supportive examples;

study questions;

annotated lists of further reading;

a glossary.

Updates to the third edition include:

an entirely new chapter, "Expressive Language" (Chapter 14), covering verbal irony, sarcasm, and pejorative language (particularly slurs);

the addition in several chapters of short sections on pretense theories, addressing (1) puzzles about reference, (2) irony, and (3) metaphor;

a much expanded discussion of Relevance Theory, particularly its notion of ad hoc concept construction or "loosening and tightening," and the application of that to metaphor;

new discussion of Cappelen and Lepore's skepticism about content-dependence;

up-to-date coverage of new literature, further reading lists, and the bibliography, as well as an improved glossary.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1138504580
• ISBN13: 9781138504585
• Release Date: September 2018
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

The best book for beginners in philosophy of language

This is THE book for beginners to have. It's a rare philosopher who knows what the word "introduction" means in a book title; most seem to write so-called introductory books as though the audience is professional philosophers.Finally I have some idea what Russell, Frege, Strawson, Donnellan and others were trying to say. And I know why it is not the case that the present king of France is bald.

excellent phil of lang overview

this book has several things going for it:first, it is an informative and brief, yet thorough, introduction to some central issues in the philosophy of language. for each issue, lycan summarizes the problems to be solved, explains some theories with which prominent philosophers have attempted to solve them, and provides possible objections and replies to those theories. lycan links each issue smoothly with the next, so that the reader sees clearly how the different problems in the field are related.second, the reader is provided with chapter introductions, chapter summaries, review questions, and a long bibliography.third, lycan makes his text entertaining with some great sarcasm, and by creating humorous (yet effective) examples. i actually laughed out loud several times while reading this text.overall, this is a great book. i highly recommend it to beginners in the philosophy of language.

Excellent

If you are going to understand contemporary philosophy, you have to understand the philosophy of language. Prof. Lycan's book is an excellent introduction. First, it is very clearly written and, second, it avoids excessive use of logical symbolism. My only complaints are that there could have been a longer discussion of Frege and more discussion of how questions raised impact other areas of philosophy such as metaphysics and religion. However, Prof. Lycan tells us that these matters will be taken up in the other works in the Routledge Contemporary Introduction to Philosophy series.

Impressive summary of the field

I haven't touched the philosophy of language for 20 years, so it was nice to pick up a text that gets you right back into this interesting subject. To appreciate the philosophy of language you have to be amazed that we can make noises or marks to others that carry meaning and elicit the variety of responses that take place in human social interaction. Lycan brings you right into the heart of this phenomenon and brings out all the important ideas and counter ideas in lively and occasionally funny prose. Most importantly, he makes the topic readily undertandable and interesting.Beyond the topic of "meaning", Lycan surveys speech acts, metaphors, etc. I think it will give the interested reader a pretty good grasp of the central issues in the field. The introductory summaries for each section and the study questions and tips for further reading make this a great book for the student or interested nonstudent (like me).If you are perplexed at how the philosophy of language can be fun and interesting, this is the book for you.