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Sample of Using Graphic and Citing Sources as well as including hyperlinks.

 * __The Philosophy of Language__**

An Assistant Professor of Philsophy, Juan Cruz, hit the whole philosophy of language debate right on the nail when he says that philosophy of language "focuses on more abstract questions of language itself, including how sentences mean what they do, how names refer to individuals or natural kinds, how we can talk about non-existent things, and whether (and how) two sentences can mean the same thing."[[|1]] All of us can understand that philosophy attempts to decipher the abstract and the actual meaning of words and ideas and, well, for language, we all would pretty much agree that we need language to communicate with one another. It is when we mix the two, that our minds are stretched to truly encompass what the intermingling of philosophy and language actually means to each of us. In this essay, I will explore the various definitions of the philosophy of language and that each adds to a true meaning of what language truly represents to all of us who speak some form of language to one another.

The first definiton of the philosophy of language essentially states that language needs to be carefully dissected to fully understand the meaning and structure of language. [[|2]] So, what exactly does this mean. In its simplest terms, in order to understand language, one needs to take a look at a word or phrase or sentence and then slowly, word by word, deconstruct it. Each word carries its own story. How did it come into being? What did the author or the word intend or have in mind? How is the word used within a sentence. How do we define the word? What is its part of speech? What do we hope to convey when using such a word? Who would have thought that so much thinking can be incorporated into one little word. Riddle, further states, that "the philosophy of language seeks to understand the concepts expressed by language and to find a system by which it can effectively and accurately do so."[[|3]] It may seem a bit trite that all words need to include such deep intellectual thought, but that is what makes the marriage between philsophy and language so gosh darn interesting. Therefore, the first definition that believes in meaning and structure of a word is an important first step in detemining a philosophy of language.

Another definition of language focuses on views on the nature of meaning, reference, truth, and their relationships.[[|4]] As one can see by the photograph below, the author, Professor Richard Holton of Massachusetts Institute of Technology defines language and philosophy as a relationship that seeks the truth of a particular word.

References 1. Cruz, Hernandez J. "Philsophy of Language & Philosophy of Mind." __Department of Philosophy__. 2005. Williams College. 6 Mar. 2008 <[|http://www.williams.edu/philosophy/fourth_layer/faculty_pages/jruz/courses/lang&mind.html>.] 2. 3. Riddle, Marnie. "Reasonable Discourse: A Philosophical Discourse on Language." Language. (1997). 4 March 2008 [|http://www.duke.edu/~pk10/language/philosophy.htm.. 4. An illustration of the introductory concepts of use and mention. (Image courtesy of MIT OCW, original photo courtesy of Terry Goss.) 5. Holton, Richard. "Introduction to the Philosophy of Language." Spring 2005. MIT. 6 Mar. 2008 .