Introduction to Philosophy of Language
Meaning, truth, and reference come under scrutiny in this MIT OpenCourseWare course, which examines how words and sentences connect to the world and to each other in communication. Topics include theories of reference, sense versus reference, speech acts, presupposition, and the relationship between truth conditions and meaning, drawing on work from Frege, Russell, Kripke, and Grice among others. No background in logic or linguistics is required. The course includes a syllabus, lecture notes, readings, and assignments made available through MIT's OpenCourseWare platform, structured as a full-semester introductory course. Materials are free to access and use, following MIT OCW's standard model of publishing complete course content without charge, though there is no certificate offered. The course suits anyone wanting a structured entry point into analytic philosophy of language.