CEU SUN (Summer University) 2010 courses - Meaning, Context, Intention

Type: 
Seminar
Audience: 
Open to the Public
Monday, July 19, 2010 - 1:00pm
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Date: 
Monday, July 19, 2010 - 1:00pm to Friday, July 30, 2010 - 1:00pm

What we express, communicate by uttering a sentence varies with the context of utterance. What is the role of semantics in bringing this about? According to one simple model, a semantic theory assigns to sentences relative to contexts what would be expressed by those sentences in normal assertive utterances, by assigning values to the meaningful parts of the sentences in those contexts and combining them via a recursive process. According to another, radically different model, the meanings of words are rules that constrain the use of expressions, but there is no notion of what is said by a sentence (as opposed to the person) that matches the speaker's communicative intentions, and that plays a fundamental role in the account of communication. There are many versions of each of these views of linguistic communication. How we think about language is determined by which we adopt. The purpose of this course is to bring together leading researchers who have formed the debate, together with some younger researchers with new approaches.

This summer school invites applications from junior faculty and doctoral students at philosophy and linguistics departments. Minimum background required: philosophy of language at the advanced undergraduate level. Participants should ideally bring some work in progress related to the course theme for discussion during the course.

Course Directors:

Zsofia Zvolenszky, Eötvös University (ELTE), Institute of Philosophy, Budapest, Hungary

Jason Stanley, Rutgers University, Philosophy Department of Philosophy, New Brunswick, US

Faculty:

Ray Buchanan, University of Texas, Philosophy Department, Austin, US

Herman Cappelen, University of St Andrews, Department of Philosophy, UK

Wayne A. Davis, Georgetown University, Philosophy Department, Washington DC, US

Katalin Farkas, Central European University, Philosophy Department

Ernest Lepore, Rutgers University, Center for Cognitive Science Rutgers University, New Brunswick US

Stephen Neale, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, US

Adam Sennet, University of California, Davis, Department of Philosophy, US

Zoltan Gendler Szabo, Yale University, Department of Philosophy

For more information visit: http://www.summer.ceu.hu/02-courses/course-sites/meaning/index-meaning.php