PHL 632 Philosophy of Language
One inquires into what the meaning of a word is, and into the kind of reality that meaning has. One studies the "performative" functions of language that philosophers have only recently noticed, and also the emotive and prescriptive force of language; one is introduced to recent philosophical studies of grammar, and also to the function of language in religion. One inquires into the place of language in the existence of person, asking whether language is only an instrument of communication and action, or a realm in which the human person dwells.