Topics in Analytical Philosophy

(3-5 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

PI 3006 Topics in Analytic Philosophy at Trinity College; This course looks at the philosophical logic and philosophy of language of the early analytic philosophers Frege, Russell and Wittgenstein. The course will begin by considering these philosophers differing views on naming and definite desciptions. Towards the end of the course we will look at criticisms of Frege, Russell and Wittgenstein developed by Saul Kripke and the consequences Kripke's wider philosophy has for a variety of metaphysical disputes, including the relation of the mind to the body. Reading: Meaning and Reference (OUP) by A. W. Moore and Naming and Necessity (Balckwell) by Saul Kripke. HT - Hong Kong, China (HKUST) This course offers perspective on one subset of philosophy known as analytic philosophy. It covers central issues in the analytic tradition, concerning language, logic, knowledge, action and justice. It also examines key methodologies, like conceptual analysis, logical analysis and thought experiments. It provides students with the opportunity to read classical works by leading analytic philosophers (e.g. Russell, Moore, Frege, Strawson, Anscombe, and Nussbaum). By the end of this course, the student will have the skills to engage with advanced texts in analytic philosophy by understanding the arguments in those texts and the potential avenues to evaluate them. Stellensbosch University, South Africa (SU) Systematic study of the nature, methods and aims of philosophy as a distinctive discipline. Basic concepts of logic (truth, validity, soundness, deductive and inductive argumentation, the principle of non-contradiction, logical form and basic patterns in argumentation, etc.). Meaning and language use; disputes and definitions; recognising fallacies; the manipulation of language and meaning; rhetorical strategies. Exercises in the analysis of reasoning.