What is meaning? What is the relationship between language and the world? How is linguistic communication possible? This comprehensive anthology contains thirty-seven of the most important articles in the philosophy of language, including both classic articles by such philosophers as Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, J.L. Austin, W.V. Quine, and P.F. Strawson and recent work by Saul Kripke, David Kaplan, Donald Davidson, David Lewis, John Searle, and Noam Chomsky. The Second Edition includes six new selections by Russell, Searle, H.P. Grice, Robert Stalnaker, Hilary Putnam, and Chomsky.

Clearly structured in a way that both students and teachers will find appealing, the new edition is divided into seven sections that cover all of the central issues in the philosophy of language: Truth and Meaning, Speech Acts, Reference and Descriptions, Names and Demonstratives, Propositional Attitudes, Metaphor, and The Nature of Language. The articles included represent a range of different approaches to the philosophy of language and many build upon or discuss previous articles. Expanded introductions to each section provide the background necessary for understanding the philosophical issues and the connections between the articles. A bibliography of suggested further reading is included at the end of each section. Reorganized and consolidated for easier accessibility, and with new material throughout, The Philosophy of Language, Second Edition, is an essential text for courses in the philosophy of language, linguistic studies, semantics, and rhetoric.

Praise for the previous edition:

"Quite simply, the best anthology in philosophy of language now available."--Mark Bernstein, University of Texas at San Antonio

What is meaning? How is linguistic communication possible? What is the nature of language? What is the relationship between language and the world? How do metaphors work? The Philosophy of Language, considered the essential text in its field, is an excellent introduction to such fundamental questions. This revised edition collects forty-one of the most important articles in the field, making it the most up-to-date and comprehensive volume on the subject. The fourth edition features several new articles including influential work by Bertrand Russell, John R. Searle, John Perry, Ruth Garrett Millikan, and John Stuart Mill. Other selections include classic articles by such distinguished philosophers as Gottlob Frege, P. F. Strawson, J. L. Austin, Hilary Putnam, and David Kaplan.

The selections represent evolving and varying approaches to the philosophy of language, with many articles building upon earlier ones or critically discussing them. Eight sections cover the central issues: Truth and Meaning; Speech Acts; Reference and Descriptions; Names and Demonstratives; Propositional Attitudes; Metaphor; Interpretation and Translation; and The Nature of Language. The revised general introduction and introductions to each section give students background to the issues and explain the connections between them. A list of suggested further reading follows each section.

A "**" indicates readings that are new to the fourth edition.

Introduction

I. TRUTH AND MEANING

1. Empiricist Criteria of Cognitive Significance: Problems and Changes (1950), Carl G. Hempel

2. Two Dogmas of Empiricism (1953), W.V. Quine

3. Intensional Semantics (1951), Alonzo Church

4. The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics (1944), Alfred Tarski

5. Meaning (1957), H.P. Grice

6. Truth and Meaning (1967), Donald Davidson

7. Meaning and Truth (1970), P.F. Strawson

II. SPEECH ACTS

8. Performative Utterances (1961), J.L. Austin

9. The Structure of Illocutionary Acts (1969), John R. Searle **

10. A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts (1979), John R. Searle

11. Logic and Conversation (1975), H.P. Grice

12. Indirect Speech Acts (1975), John R. Searle

III. REFERENCE AND DESCRIPTIONS

13. On Sense and Nominatum (1892), Gottlob Frege

14. On Denoting (1905), Bertrand Russell

15. Descriptions (1919), Bertrand Russell

16. On Referring (1950), P.F. Strawson

17. Mr. Strawson on Referring (1957), Bertrand Russell **

18. Reference and Definite Descriptions (1966), Keith Donnellan

IV. NAMES AND DEMONSTRATIVES

19. Of Names (1881), John Stuart Mill **

20. Naming and Necessity (1972), Saul Kripke

21. Meaning and Reference (1973), Hilary Putnam

22. The Causal Theory of Names (1973), Gareth Evans

23. Proper Names and Intentionality (1983), John R. Searle

24. Dthat (1978), David Kaplan

25. The Problem of the Essential Indexical (1979), John Perry **

V. PROPOSITIONAL ATTITUDES

26. Quantifiers and Propositional Attitudes (1956), W.V. Quine

27. On Saying That (1968), Donald Davidson

28. Quantifying In (1968), David Kaplan

29. Semantic Innocence and Uncompromising Situations (1975), Jon Barwise and John Perry

30. A Puzzle about Belief (1979), Saul Kripke

VI. METAPHOR

31. What Metaphors Mean (1978), Donald Davidson

32. A Theory for Metaphor (1981), A.P. Martinich

VII. INTERPRETATION AND TRANSLATION

33. Belief and the Basis of Meaning (1997), Donald Davidson

34. A Nice Derangement of Epithaphs (1985), Donald Davidson

35. Indeterminacy, Empiricism, and the First Person (1987), John R. Searle

VIII. THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE

36. Of Words (1690), John Locke

37. Wittgenstein on Privacy (1965), John Cook

38. On Rules and Private Language (1982), Saul Kripke

39. Truth Rules, Hoverflies, and the Kripke-Wittgenstein Paradox (1990), Ruth Millikan **

40. Languages and Language (1975), David Lewis

41. Language and Problems of Knowledge (1988), Noam Chomsky

Each section ends with Suggested Further Reading