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This course will be devoted to a close study of Robert Brandom's MAKING IT EXPLICIT, one of the most important and exciting projects in recent philosophy. Brandom proposes a systematic reconception of standard philosophical conceptions of language, thought, reasoning, perception, and action. The most familiar conceptions start from the representational character of language and/or the mind and ask how mental or linguistic representations acquire definite meaning ("content"), and how they refer to objects. Brandom begins instead with the ways that linguistic expressions are used in social practices, according to norms implicit in those practices. He then tries to understand how the representational aspects of language and thought can then be understood in terms of practices and norms and how these norms can be made explicit. The course will not only enable us to understand and assess Brandom's own project but will also enable us to see how many of the central issues of contemporary philosophy are interconnected.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS PHIL Grading Mode: Student Option
Prerequisites: Any Philosophy Course Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-18-2003
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459