Course Info
Scott Soames
PHIL 501 — Meaning, Mind and World
This course will explore current problems reconciling two conceptions of meaning: the mentalistic conception of meaning and the worldly conception of meaning. The historical trend over the last century has, for the most part, involved movement away from the mentalistic conception of meaning and towards the worldly conception. However, that movement is not complete because certain problems which have historically been offered mentalistic solutions have remained resistant to worldly solutions - among them Frege's puzzle, Kripke's puzzle about belief, and Russell's puzzle about negative existentials. In this course, we will examine each of these problems, with particular attention to the first two. Our central task will be to explain and evaluate a new attempt, presented by Kit Fine in his book Semantic Relationalism, to articulate a Millian framework capable of doing justice to the Fregean intuitions that have driven these puzzles. Fine’s goal is to expln ai— using only resources available to the Millian — how two sentences can represent the world as being precisely the same way, yet differ in meaning, and express propositions that are rationally believed in different circumstances. Our goal is to determine whether or not he is successful.
Last updated: 01/16/08