Philosophy of Language: The Key Thinkers [Paperback]

Philosophers have raised and struggled with questions relating to human language for more than 2000 years. Philosophy of Language: The Key Thinkers offers a comprehensive historical overview of this fascinating field. Thirteen specially commissioned essays introduce and explore the contributions of those philosophers who have shaped the subject and the central issues and arguments therein.

Philosophical questions relating to language have been subjected to particularly intense scrutiny since the work of Gottlob Frege in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book concentrates on the development of philosophical views on language over the last 130 years, offering coverage of all the leading thinkers in the field including Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Austin, Quine, Chomsky, Grice, Davidson, Dummett and Kripke. Crucially the book demonstrates how the ideas and arguments of these key thinkers have contributed to our understanding of the theoretical account of language use and its central concepts. Ideal for undergraduate students, the book lays the necessary foundations for a complete and thorough understanding of this fascinating subject.

Barry Lee is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of York, UK.

Introduction Barry Lee \ 1. Gottlob Frege Mike
Beaney \ 2. Bertrand Russell Kenneth A. Taylor \ 3. Ludwig
Wittgenstein: The Early Period Arif Ahmed \ 4. Rudolf Carnap Pierre Wagner \ 5. J.L. Austin Guy
Longworth \ 6. Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Late Period Arif Ahmed \ 7.
W.V.O.Quine Gary Kemp \ 8. Noam Chomsky John Collins \ 9. Paul
Grice Kent Bach \ 10. Donald Davidson Kirk Ludwig \ 11. Michael
Dummett Bernhard Weiss \ 12. Saul Kripke Bryan Frances \ 13.
Jacques Derrida Tom Baldwin \ Index \ Recommendations on further reading
are included at the end of each chapl