Philosophy 3700: Language and Human Nature
Brian Beakley
Coleman Hall 316J  581-3964
cfbxb@ux1.cts.eiu.edu
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfbxb/class/3700/

In this course we will take language as an entry point to the study of the human mind.  In itself, this isn’t a new idea at all: since language seems to be found only in human beings, and is typically our easiest and most reliable way of figuring out someone’s thoughts, feelings, and intentions, it has throughout history been viewed as the special clue into the essence of the human mind and its inner mechanisms.  But recent developments in congitive science, and especially formal linguistics, have provided a wealth of theory and evidence suggesting specific – and often surprising – view on the nature and powers of the human mind. While it might be possible to get a rough understanding of these results from a quick overview, only a detailed study of contemporary linguistics really makes clear why linguistics make the peculiar claims about the human mind that they do. At the same time – as the title of the course suggests – we pursue a deeper appreciation of language as a worthwhile study in its own right, as a tool and endowment to be used in every corner of life.  And here again, understanding the principles of current linguistic theory is the single best way to gain a deeper appreciation of the resources of our own (and all other) languages. We will therefore devote the majority of the course to working through the fundamentals of generative grammar from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.  After laying this theoretical foundation, we will turn to writings by philosophers, psychologists, and linguistics on the broader implications of this work for our picture of the human mind.

The text for the course is Liliane Haegeman, Introduction to Government and Binding Theory (2nd Edition).  It is available from the textbook rental service.  After we have finished with the Haegeman text, I will supply handouts of the later readings.

The grading will be based on a midterm exam (36 points), a final exam (36 points), six unannounced quizzes (6 points each: 6 x 6 = 36 points), and six homeworks (2 points each: 6 x 2 = 12), for a total of 120 points.  The exam will be primarily formal problems, though there will be some short answers, and possibly essay questions, on the final exam.

In order to make the unannounced-quiz and -homework policy worthwhile, missed quizzes and homeworks (and exams too, for that matter) can only be made up in cases of documented excusable absences (illness, death, marriage, job interview, away game, etc.).  

There are no exceptions to this excused absence policy!  Except this: you get one free makeup a quiz, and one for a homework, that requires no excuse or documentation.  (Of course, if you miss a quiz or homework and you have documentation of an excused absence, you will probably not want to spend your free makeup on that occasion.)  
You must see me to schedule a makeup no more than one week after the missed assignment; if you wait longer than that, you can no longer use your free makeup for that assignment.  No free makeups during the last week of class.  

These are makeups for missed assignments:
– You cannot retake an assignment you did poorly on, and 
– You cannot “drop the lowest grade”.

Note: documented excusable absences will only cover you for missed quizzes or homeworks;  it's still your responsibility to get any lecture material you missed.

Also: 
-- You do not have to tell me ahead of time if you’re going to miss class.
-- After we’ve gone over a homework, you cannot turn it in – even if you’re only a few minutes late, you’ll need to do a makeup.  Don’t leave assignments under my office door or in my mailbox unless I give you explicit permission to do it that time.