Vital Statistics

Autumn, 2008

Who, When, Where

• Class Meetings: Tu Th, 1:30-3:20, in Condon 135
• Professor: S. Marc Cohen
• Office: Condon 608
• Telephone: 543-6895
• Office Hours: Tuesday 4:30-5:20 and by appointment. Call or email to schedule.
• Email:

Joint Listing

• This course is offered jointly with Linguistics 476.

Textbook

• The Philosophy of Language: fifrth edition, edited by A. P. Martinich (Oxford: 2008)

Other Required Reading

You must download and print your own copies of these materials:

• Philosophy 453 Syllabus
• Logic handout: the syntax and semantics of first-order predicate logic with identity.
• A guide to translation between English and a first-order language.
• David Kaplan, Demonstratives (excerpts). You must have a valid UWnet ID to access this file.

Note: the Kaplan article is a large (2.7 MB) PDF file. Beware of lengthy download times if you are not on a wide bandwidth internet connection.

Written Work Required

• Mid-term exam: Tuesday, October 28, 2008

  Study questions for exam will be posted on October 21, 2008.

• Final project (due Monday, December 8, 2008): Choice of
  • Take-home final exam (questions will be posted on December 1, 2008)

  • Term paper, 2500-3500 words (i.e., 10-12 pages double-spaced and numbered). Topic is optional, but must concern a text or issue discussed in this class. If you have any doubt about your choice of topic, please consult me.

  • Graduate students in Philosophy and undergraduates taking the course for optional W-credit (writing) must choose the term paper option.

  • Undergraduates taking the course for W-credit must submit a preliminary piece of writing not later than November 13. This should be in the form of an outline, abstract, proposal, or preliminary draft of the term paper.

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