Philosophy of language
Philosophy of language studies meaning, reference, truth, and how language relates to thought and reality.
Meaning: The content conveyed by words, expressions, or signs. The field asks what linguistic expressions mean and how that content is determined.
Frege's sense and reference: Gottlob Frege's distinction between an expression's mode of presentation and the object it designates. The distinction explains why two names for one object can differ in informational value.
Gottlob Frege: A German logician and philosopher whose work shaped modern logic and theories of meaning. His account of sense and reference set enduring terms for debates about meaning.
Logical positivism: A philosophical movement that tied meaningful factual claims to empirical verification or logical truth. Its verification criterion narrowed meaningful language more sharply than later approaches accepted.
Philosophy of mind: The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of mental states, consciousness, and their relation to the body. Theories of thought and mental representation often depend on how language expresses or shapes thought.
Reference: The relation by which an expression picks out an object, person, or other entity. Theories of reference explain how names and other expressions connect language to the world.
Descriptivist theory of names: The view that a proper name's meaning is associated with one or more descriptions of its bearer. It offers a prominent account of how names determine their referents.
Bertrand Russell: A British philosopher and logician known for work on logic, language, and descriptions. His theory of descriptions addressed how sentences containing nonreferring names can be meaningful.
Ordinary language philosophy: A philosophical approach that examines ordinary linguistic practices to clarify or dissolve philosophical problems. It contrasts with theories that model meaning primarily through formal systems.
Epistemology: The branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge, justification, and rational belief. Questions about testimony and assertion connect linguistic practices to knowledge.