Ernest Lepore

"Meaning and Argument shifts introductory logic from the traditional emphasis on proofs to the symbolization of arguments. Another distinctive feature of this book is that it shows how the need for expressive power and for drawing distinctions forces formal language development.". "At each stage of system elaboration and development, the book answers metalogical questions. Why is a particular formalism needed? What must go into such a formalism and why? These questions engage students in a collective injury which allows them to see logical studies as a human enterprise aimed at achieving well-understood purposes - clarity and good reasoning." "The volume is ideal as an introduction to formal logic, philosophical logic, and philosophy of language."--BOOK JACKET.

Ernie Lepore and Barry Loewer present a series of papers in which they come to terms with three views that have loomed large in philosophy for several decades: that a theory of meaning for a language is best understood as a theory of truth for that language; that thought and language are best understood together via a theory of interpretation; and that the mental is irreducible to the physical. They aim both to offer critical assessment of the views and to develop them. They show that each of these views remains of great significance for current work in philosophy of language and mind.