Philosophy of Language: The Basics

This book provides beginners with a sense of the questions and methods that make up the philosophy of language. The first four chapters develop the idea that language is a system that allows us to exchange information with each other, and the second four chapters explore the idea that language is a tool we can use to perform actions, like promising, insulting, and socially positioning ourselves.

The first part of the book traces an arc connecting questions like:

• What is language?
• Where does meaning come from?
• How do we use meanings to send messages to each other?

The second part of the book takes up questions like:

• Does pornography silence women?
• What is offensive about slurs?
• What do we lose when languages go extinct?

With a glossary of key terms, questions for reflection, and suggestions for further reading, Philosophy of Language: The Basics is the place to start for anyone who is curious about how high the seas of language rise.

"Philosophy of Language: The Basics stresses a certain dimension of the philosophy of language -- its social, political aspect -- but also with some of the basics of mainstream semantics and meta-semantics. Students will appreciate the social-political aspect, as it has received a lot of attention in recent years."

-Dr. Gary Kemp, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Glasgow, UK.

"As the field of philosophy of language has, in recent years, found new and fruitful points of connection with social and political philosophy, the time has come for an update to the standard introductions to the field. Philosophy of Language: The Basics provides a broad overview of classic philosophical work on language from the 20th Century, while also exploring how that work has been developed to shed light on issues of urgent social concern. It should serve as a valuable resource for anyone coming to philosophy of language for the first time, as well as a helpful point of reference for those already acquainted with the field."

-Prof. Justin Khoo, Associate professor of philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

"Philosophy of language is a notoriously inaccessible part of the field. The questions it asks---about what languages are, what meaning is, how speech acts function, what particular terms mean, how discourse unfolds, etc.---can seem remarkably disunified to the uninitiated. Nowak’s Philosophy of Language: The Basics attempts to put this right. Nowak offers a helpful narrative through the questions which drive the field, both new and old, and illustrates the various ways that thinkers have tried to weave answers to these questions together into more complete pictures of language and language use. Written in a clear, engaging style, this book should serve equally well as a first text in the philosophy of language and as a guide for the more experienced, but still inevitably perplexed."

-Dr. Eliot Michaelson, Professor of Philosophy at King’s College London, UK.

"Philosophy of Language: The Basics stresses a certain dimension of the philosophy of language -- its social, political aspect -- but also with some of the basics of mainstream semantics and meta-semantics. Students will appreciate the social-political aspect, as it has received a lot of attention in recent years."

-Dr. Gary Kemp, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Glasgow, UK.

"As the field of philosophy of language has, in recent years, found new and fruitful points of connection with social and political philosophy, the time has come for an update to the standard introductions to the field. Philosophy of Language: The Basics provides a broad overview of classic philosophical work on language from the 20th Century, while also exploring how that work has been developed to shed light on issues of urgent social concern. It should serve as a valuable resource for anyone coming to philosophy of language for the first time, as well as a helpful point of reference for those already acquainted with the field."

-Prof. Justin Khoo, Associate professor of philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

"Philosophy of language is a notoriously inaccessible part of the field. The questions it asks---about what languages are, what meaning is, how speech acts function, what particular terms mean, how discourse unfolds, etc.---can seem remarkably disunified to the uninitiated. Nowak’s Philosophy of Language: The Basics attempts to put this right. Nowak offers a helpful narrative through the questions which drive the field, both new and old, and illustrates the various ways that thinkers have tried to weave answers to these questions together into more complete pictures of language and language use. Written in a clear, engaging style, this book should serve equally well as a first text in the philosophy of language and as a guide for the more experienced, but still inevitably perplexed."

-Dr. Eliot Michaelson, Professor of Philosophy at King’s College London, UK.

Ethan Nowak is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Cardiff University in Wales.

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