PHIL305

In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates asks, “When someone utters the word ‘iron’ or ‘silver’, don’t we all think
of the same thing?” He continues, “But what happens when we say ‘just’ or ‘good’? Doesn’t each one
of us go in a different direction? Don’t we differ with one another and even within ourselves?’
Socrates’ questions about language, and his anxieties about its effects, might be said to inaugurate a
centuries-long debate about the nature of language and its relation to truth, justice, rhetoric, and
ethics. In this course, we will look at various philosophies of language, with a particular attention to
texts from the ancient world and texts from the tradition of continental philosophy. Much of the
course will be devoted to speech act theory, which interrogates the degree to which speech—legally,
ethically, or politically--constitutes action. How and when are we responsible for the effects or
consequences of our language?