Topics in Philosophy of Language: Vagueness

A pile of sand.

Pictured above is a pile of sand. One grain of sand doesn't constitute a pile, nor do two grains...so how many grains does it take to make a pile? The task of designing a theory of meaning for vague predicates like "pile" has proved to be surprisingly difficult. (Image courtesy of Ian Comley.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

24.729

As Taught In

Fall 2005

Level

Graduate

Cite This Course

Course Description

Course Description

The objective of the graduate-level course is to give people a sense of what "accounting for vagueness" is all about, why it's hard, and why it's important. This will involve surveying some prominent accounts of vagueness.

Other Versions

Other OCW Versions

OCW has published multiple versions of this subject. Question_OVT logo

Related Content

Agustín Rayo. 24.729 Topics in Philosophy of Language: Vagueness. Fall 2005. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.


For more information about using these materials and the Creative Commons license, see our Terms of Use.


Close