Philosophy of Language: The Central Topics

This collection of classic and contemporary essays in philosophy of language offers a concise introduction to the field for students in graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses. It contains some of the most important basic sources in philosophy of language, including a number of classic essays by philosophers such as Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Kripke, Grice, Davidson, Strawson, Austin, and Putnam, as well as more recent contributions by scholars including John McDowell, Stephen Neale, Ruth Millikan, Stephen Schiffer, Paul Horwich, and Anthony Brueckner, among others, who are on the leading edge of innovation in this increasingly influential area of philosophy. The result is a lively mix of readings, together with the editors' discussions of the material, which provides a rigorous introduction to the subject.

Noam Chomsky is the author of numerous bestselling political works, including Hegemony or Survival and Failed States. A laureate professor at the University of Arizona and professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, he is widely credited with having revolutionized modern linguistics. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Michael Dummett (1925-2011) was Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford, UK. One of the most highly regarded British Philosophers of the post-war era, his work has been an important influence in the fields of logic, metaphysics, the philosophy of mathematics and the philosophy of language.

Michael Dummett was Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford, UK.

John C. McDowell is Academic Dean of St Athanasius College, University of Divinity, Australia.

Stephen Neale is an award winning author, journalist and adventurer. He is obsessed with camping, walking, boats and fishing, and is the author of Wild Camping, Camping by the Waterside, The England Coast Path and The South West Coast Path, all published by Conway.

BERTRAND RUSSELL was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, historian, and writer. Regarded as one of the most luminous minds in the history of humanity, Lord Russell received countless awards and honors throughout his long and celebrated life, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950. His books include A History of Western Philosophy and In Praise of Idleness.