Frege and Tarski, Hilary Term 2018

Below is the (provisional) schedule for a course of lectures for the Final Honour School paper 108, Philosophy of Logic and Language. The lectures will provide a broadly historical introduction to various themes in the philosophy of logic and language, focusing on the work of Frege and Tarski. Key readings — and lecture slides, as they become available — are provided for each topic.

1. Frege's Conception of Logic

Key reading: John Macfarlane (2002) ‘Frege, Kant, and the Logic in Logicism’ in The Philosophical Review 111(1), pp. 25-65.

Lecture Slides (html, pdf), Reading List (pdf).

2. Frege's Innovations in Logic

Key reading: Michael Dummett (1981) Frege: Philosophy of Language, 2nd edition (Duckworth), Ch. 2, esp. pp. 9-22.

Lecture Slides (html, pdf), Reading List (pdf).

3. Sense and Reference I

Key reading: Gottlob Frege (1893) ‘Über Sinn und Bedeutung’, translated as ‘On Sinn and Bedeutung’ in (1997) The Frege Reader, ed. by Michael Beaney (Blackwell).

Lecture Slides (html, pdf), Reading List (pdf).

4. Sense and Reference II

Key reading: Gottlob Frege (1918) ‘Der Gedanke’, translated as ‘Thought’ in (1997) The Frege Reader, ed. by Michael Beaney (Blackwell).

Lecture Slides (html, pdf), Reading List (pdf).

5. Tarski on Truth

Key reading: Alfred Tarski (1944) ‘The Semantic Conception of Truth’ in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 4(3), pp. 341-76.

Lecture Slides (html, pdf), Reading List (pdf).

6. The Liar Paradox

Key reading: JC Beall, Michael Glanzberg, and David Ripley (2011/16) ‘Liar Paradox’ in E. Zalta, ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Lecture Slides (html, pdf), Reading List (pdf).

NOTE: If the planned strike goes ahead, there will be no lecture in 6th week.

7. Logical Consequence

Key reading: John Etchemendy (2008) ‘Reflections on Consequence’ in Douglas Patterson, ed. New Essays on Tarski and Philosophy (OUP).

Lecture Slides (html, pdf), Reading List (pdf).

8. Logical Constants

Key reading: John Macfarlane (2005/15) ‘Logical Constants’ in E. Zalta, ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

NOTE: If the planned strike goes ahead, there will be no lecture in 8th week.