PhD Seminar: Topics in the Philosophy of Language

Attention is a big deal, and it's recently been having something of a philosophical moment. In this seminar, we'll start by looking at some foundational work on what attention is and what it is to attend to something, before turning to explore some areas in which the notion is employed. In the philosophy of language, this might include recent work on demonstratives, slurs, and identity labels, as well as foundational theories of meaning. After reading some classic work on what is typically called 'the ethics of attention,' we'll look at some recent papers on the virtues and vices of attending and of calling attention in different ways.This class is open to all philosophy graduate students, and to other students only with instructor permission. The 2 unit option is only allowed for Philosophy PhD students who are beyond the second year.