This is an introductory course of philosophy of language. We'll survey some central issues in the area, to give students the basic acquaintance of this study field. Historically, analytic philosophy starts from philosophical reflection on the language we use. Hence this course is also an excellent entrance to analytic philosophy in general. We will run into ideas from some important figures in the development of analytic philosophy, including Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Carnap, Quine, Davidson, and Grice.
Basic knowledge of logic is advised but not required.