Undergraduate - UnitATS2865 - Language, truth and power

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2012 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered	Not offered in 2012
Coordinator(s)	Karen Green

Notes

Previously coded PHL2120

Synopsis

The unit will concentrate on two major approaches to the study of language. The structuralist approach which can be traced back to Saussure, and the referential realist approach which can be traced back to Aristotle. It will begin with an introduction to structuralism and the idea that language structures reality. It will move on to the referential semantics introduced by Aristotle and further developed by Frege. Various views concerning truth will be discussed including the view that truth is correspondence with reality and the contrasting position that truth is related to power. www.arts.monash.edu.au/phil/undergraduate/lateryear.html

Assessment

Written work: 60% (2500 words)
Exam: 40%

Chief examiner(s)

Karen Green

Contact hours

2 hours (1 lecture and 1 tutorial) per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Philosophy
Comparative literature and cultural studies

Prerequisites

A first-year sequence in philosophy or comparative literature, cultural studies and critical theory or linguistics

Prohibitions

CLS2120