Language: Key Concepts in Philosophy

by José Medina

Inquiry into the nature and purpose of language has long been a central concern of Western philosophy, within both the analytic, Anglo-American tradition, and its Continental counterpart. Language: Key Concepts in Philosophy explains and explores the principal ideas, theories and debates in the philosophy of language, providing a clear and authoritative account of the discipline. The text covers the work on language of the major philosophers in both traditions, including Frege, Wittgenstein, Austin, Quine, Davidson, Heidegger, Gadamer, Derrida and Butler. The book equips readers with the requisite philosophical tools to get to grips with central concepts and key issues, and raises challenging questions students can then explore on their own. Coverage of each issue provides the reader with a full account of the state of the question and a thorough assessment of the arguments entailed in the available literature on that subject. Philosophy undergraduates will find this an invaluable aid to study, one that goes beyond simple definitions and summaries to really open up fascinating and important ideas and arguments.

Genres: Philosophy, Language, Nonfiction

226 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2005

About the author

José Medina is Walter Dill Scott Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University. He works primarily in Gender & Race Theory, Philosophy of Language, and Social Epistemology. His writings on language and identity have focused on gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. Medina's books include Speaking from Elsewhere (SUNY Press, 2006) and Language (Continuum, 2005).

Reviews

[Arman Behrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

First half of the Book obsessed structural concept about Language, but the second half, conveniently introduce philosophical ideas about the Language phenomena.

[Sarah Pearman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My professor's book - an excellent review of concepts in philosophy of language... and interesting to read, which is a large part of why I became so interested in the subject. Of course, it helps that Medina himself is an extremely vibrant lecturer so I connect the book with his teaching