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Spreading the Word: Groundings in the Philosophy of Language
In this book, Simon Blackburn provides a route into the central problems of modern philosophy of language. The text is designed not to give the student a superficial acquaintance with well-known writers and their results, but to foster a genuine appreciation of the problems which have dominated the area, and of the place these problems have in a wider philosophical context. Individual chapters on rule-following, meaning and convention, realism, theories of truth, semantics, and reference, enable the reader to appreciate the real import of recent investigations, and to understand the perennial concern of philosophers with the language we use to describe and change our world.
- GenresPhilosophyLinguistics
378 pages, Paperback
First published March 8, 1984
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About the author
Simon Blackburn
77 books278 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Simon Blackburn FBA is an English academic philosopher known for his work in metaethics, where he defends quasi-realism, and in the philosophy of language; more recently, he has gained a large general audience from his efforts to popularise philosophy.
He retired as the professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge in 2011, but remains a distinguished research professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, teaching every fall semester. He is also a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a member of the professoriate of New College of the Humanities. He was previously a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford and has also taught full-time at the University of North Carolina as an Edna J. Koury Professor. He is a former president of the Aristotelian Society, having served the 2009–2010 term. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2002 and a Foreign Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2008.
Simon Blackburn FBA is an English academic philosopher known for his work in metaethics, where he defends quasi-realism, and in the philosophy of language; more recently, he has gained a large general audience from his efforts to popularise philosophy.
He retired as the professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge in 2011, but remains a distinguished research professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, teaching every fall semester. He is also a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a member of the professoriate of New College of the Humanities. He was previously a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford and has also taught full-time at the University of North Carolina as an Edna J. Koury Professor. He is a former president of the Aristotelian Society, having served the 2009–2010 term. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2002 and a Foreign Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2008.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 29, 2025
interesting and detailed introduction to the philosophy of language of forty years ago, which is now out of place. is it for beginners? if so, it is probably too wordy; too full of waffle. is it for people who want blackburn's original contributions, like his exposition of quasi-realism? if so, it is full of much too much introductory material. it's a very good book, now caught out of time and place
Displaying 1 of 1 review