Philosophy 381: Philosophy of Language

Consider the following quote from Dummett, "What Is a Theory of Meaning?"

"To grasp the meaning of an expression is to understand its role in the language: a complete theory of meaning for a language is, therefore, a complete theory of how the language functions as a language."(p. 429)

(1) Justify Dummett's argument, i.e. provide at least one reason to think the premise is true and provide at least one reason to think the conclusion follows from the premise.

(2) Provide at least one potential objection to Dummett's argument.

(3) Provide at least one response Dummett might give to the objection.

(4) Evaluate which is more likely to succeed--the suggested objection or the potential reply. Justify your answer.

Extra directions: This assignment should be a minimum of 2 standardly formatted typewritten pages. There is no maximum length, but since I value precision, conciseness, and clarity, excess verbiage should be avoided.

Due: Monday, October 26, at the beginning of class.