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On the standard conception of the place of linguistic meaning and mental content in the world, there are facts about what speakers mean by linguistic expressions and about what people believe and desire. Interpretation is the process by which we gain access to these facts—we use the evidence at our disposal to determine what people mean by what they say and the contents of their mental states. On this standard conception, facts about meaning and content are generated by connections between language and the mind, on the one hand, and the world, on the other. These facts do not depend in any way on the interpretative procedures by which we seek to discover them.

Since the last few decades of the 20th century, several philosophers have challenged this conception, arguing that facts about linguistic meaning and mental content are somehow produced by the procedures that we employ for ascribing meanings and contents. The goal of this module is to provide a general introduction to this approach. We will focus on the work of four of its main advocates: WVO Quine, Donal Davidson, Saul Kripke and Daniel Dennett.

Topics covered by the module will include:

1. Quine on the indeterminacy of translation
2. Davidson on truth, meaning and radical interpretation
3. Kripke’s interpretation of Wittgenstein’s rule-following considerations
4. Dennett on the intentional stance

Teaching Delivery

The module will be delivered by a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar each week. You will be expected to do preparatory reading for each session and to be able to take part in seminar discussion.

By the end of the module:

1. You will have gained a deep understanding of the specific ideas put forward by the authors studied in this module.
2. You will be able to assess their proposals as well as their general approach in philosophical semantics, and to compare them to other major approaches to the subject.
3. You will have enhanced your interpretative skills regarding difficult philosophical texts.
4. You will have developed your ability to grasp and discuss highly abstract philosophical issues.

Recommended Reading

In preparation for the module, we advise reading the following core texts. These can be found in the UCL Library:

• Gibson, Roger F. 1998. Radical translation and radical interpretation. .
• Quine, Willard Van Orman. 1960. Word and Object. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, Chapter 2.
• Davidson, Donald. 1973. "Radical Interpretation". Dialectica 27:313-28.
• Dennett, Daniel C. 1987. "True Believers". In The Intentional Stance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
• Kripke, Saul. 1982. Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. Oxford: Blackwell.

Philosophy Area A