A Companion to the Philosophy of Language (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy)

Rating:
Summary: A good, serious companion, not an introduction
Review: The editors state in their Preface that this Companion is 'intended as a guide for a more ambitious and determined explorer', and we can believe them. This book is not encyclopaedic; it does not provide dictionary-like entries that are short and sweet on the various topics and terms one might come across in the study of language. Rather, it provides 25 serious, yet readable articles on various topics in the Phil. of Language.

These chapters are divided up into 3 sections: Meaning and Theories of Meaning; Language, Truth and Reality; and Reference, Identity and Necessity. The contributors are all scholars in the field, but mainly British (I believe 9 out of the 23 come from American universities; 4 out of the 23 come from Oxford alone). What is good is that they do not intend introductory essays into the various fields (pragmatics, intention, meaning, verification, etc) but take up their respective positions and argue them.

For this reason, the book is of value to those students interested in the study of this subject and willing to immerse themselves, but who are not yet 'experts' in the field. For those who are just starting out, it is not an appropriate introductory work.