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Unit of study_

PHIL2621: Truth, Meaning and Language

2022 unit information

This unit covers central issues in contemporary philosophy of language, such as the relationship between language and the world, the nature of meaning and truth, problems involved in interpreting and understanding the speech of others, the role of context in determining meaning, and the nature of metaphor.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Philosophy

Code PHIL2621
Academic unit Philosophy
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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12 credit points at 1000 level in Philosophy
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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None
Assumed knowledge:
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None

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. This unit of study will introduce students to fundamental philosophical issues concerning meaning and language. The first half of the course will take an unorthodox route through ordinary language philosophy in order to recover its lost insights. In the second half we will consider scientific and transcendental versions of the idea that meaning is use. Generically, this unit of study should help to impart new forms of understanding (especially new ways of looking at ordinary language and questions of meaning), enhance critical thinking skills, and facilitate the ability to speak and write clearly, rationally and succinctly.
  • LO2. Read, understand and critically engage with philosophical texts both historical and contemporary.
  • LO3. Identify, formulate and assess philosophical problems and demonstrate an understanding of important conceptual distinctions.
  • LO4. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of important conceptual distinctions (such as truth vs knowledge, causation vs correlation, relativism vs pluralism) and an ability to apply them.
  • LO5. Express themselves precisely and demonstrate an ability to make rationally persuasive arguments.

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

There are no availabilities for this year.
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2020
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2022
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2022
Normal day Remote

Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.