My division at Colorado School lists the Philosophy of Language as an introductory course, however in my expertise previous to this place, the philosophy of language is normally too technical to be an excellent introduction to philosophy. Fairly than change the departmental curriculum, I made a decision to see if I might make this work: I reconsidered what could possibly be taught as a part of the Philosophy of Language, and how you can make the ideas accessible to college students from completely different backgrounds. As a bonus, I’ve typically been in a position to educate this course within the tremendous arts middle close to my campus. The syllabus displays not solely my efforts to search out accessible subjects and readings within the philosophy of language but additionally our heavy use of native visible and performing arts assets.
The schedule can be uncommon as a result of Colorado School makes use of a “block” calendar, somewhat than quarters or semesters. This may give you the results you want as a summer time class, or elements could possibly be tailored to a extra customary tutorial calendar.
I’ve a number of targets in thoughts for the scholars on this class:
- Clarify some philosophical theories about language and apply them to new phenomena
- Enhance your writing, studying, public talking, and teamwork abilities
- Discover new questions and instruments for considering that excite you
- Enhance your capability to grasp philosophical questions by means of visible arts, and your capability to grasp artworks by means of philosophical considering
- Construct a energetic, supportive classroom group
The content material adjustments every time I educate the course, however all the time contains a mixture of traditional works in analytic philosophy of language, associated analysis in different disciplines, and not too long ago printed philosophy articles that exemplify the sorts of fascinating functions of concept which are potential within the philosophy of language. I feel this combine helps to attract college students with various background experiences into the course content material in several methods. For instance, the inclusion of psychology and linguistics analysis, poetry, and recreation concept permits college students with completely different ranges of experience in these areas to take a extra outstanding position at school discussions on completely different days.
The construction of the course stays comparatively fixed: My central emphasis is on group actions that assist college students study and apply new concepts collectively. I don’t grade college students as a bunch, and practically the entire group work occurs at school. So the scholars get the advantages of working collectively—studying from one another, taking part extra at school, and constructing relationships—with out the disadvantage of unequal contributions to the group.
After the syllabus, I’ve additionally included a few the in-class video games I’ve developed. In different cases of this course, I’ve used different video games (together with the excellent Sign).
The Syllabus Showcase of the APA Weblog is designed to share insights into the syllabi of philosophy educators. We embrace syllabi of their unique, unedited format that showcase all kinds of philosophy lessons. We might love so that you can be part of this mission. Please contact Sequence Editor, Cara S. Greene through cara.greene@coloradocollege.edu, or Editor of the Educating Beat, Dr. Smrutipriya Pattnaik through smrutipriya23@gmail.com with potential submissions.
Helen Daly
Helen Daly is an affiliate professor of philosophy at Colorado School. Her analysis prior to now has included a variety of questions inside the areas of metaphysics and the philosophy of language (the character of intercourse and gender, the potential of hell, insults, sexual violence). She is at the moment writing about private identification.
