Andrea Nye is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She is the author of Feminist Theory and the Philosophies of Man (1988), Words of Power: a Feminist Reading of the History of Logic (1990), Philosophia: the Thought of Rosa Luxemburg, Simone Weil, Hannah Arendt (1994), Philosophy and Feminism: at the Border (1995).

"Andrea Nye's anthology in the philosophy of language satisfies a need for a textbook that includes writings from historical and the Fregean traditions, many of which have not been included in other anthologies." Don Levi, University of Oregon "I can scarcely imagine a better primer than this, for an intelligent layperson." The Shetland Times"What makes this volume distinctive for consideration as a text is its inclusion of papers not readily treated in bread-and-butter philosophy of language courses." C. J. Shields, Choice

• General Introduction. Part I: Language: What is it?:.1. Language as the Weaving Together of Forms: Plato.2. The Origins of Language: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.3. On Words: John Locke.4. On the Scientific Justification of a Conceptual Notation: Gottlob Frege.5. The Existential Matrix of Inquiry: John Dewey.6. Picturing Reality: Ludwig Wittgenstein.7. Subjectivity in Language: Emile Benveniste.8. Private Language, Public Languages: Jerry Fodor.9. The Mark of Gender: Monnique Wittig.Part II: Meaning: How do Words get their Sense?:.10. On Sense and Reference: Gottlob Frege.11. The Principle of Verifiability: A.J. Ayer.12. Meaning as Use: Ludwig Wittgenstein.13. Biosemantics: Ruth Millikan.14. How can Language be Sexist?: Merrill and Jaakko Hintikka.Part III: Speaking: What is it to Say Something:.15. Meaning: H.P. Grice.16. Performative Utterances: John Austin.17. Verbal Interaction: V.N. Volosinov.18. Telling as Letting Know: Arindam Chakrabati.19. He I Sought but did not Find: Luce Irigaray.Part IV: Reference: what do we Talk About?:.20. On Denoting: Bertrand Russell.21. Naming and Necessity (excerpts): Saul Kripke.22. The Formation of Objects: Michel Foucault.23. Critically Queer: Judith Butler.24. 'Worlds' and World Travelling: Maria Lugones.Part V: Truth: What is the Reaction Between Language and Reality?:.25. The Semantic Theory of Truth: Alfred Tarski.26. The Method of Truth in Metaphysics: Donald Davidson.27. Truth as Coherence: Linda Alcoff.28. Truth Through Social Praxis: David Theo Goldberg.29. Are Truth Claims Dysfunctional?: Sandra Harding.Part VI: Other Minds and Foreign Tongues: How is it Possible to Understand What Someone Else Says?:.30. The Translation of Unstranslatable Words: Bronislaw Malinowski.31. Indeterminacy of Translation: W.V. Quine.32. On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme: Donald Davidson.33. An American Indian Model of the Universe: Benjamin Whorf.34. How to Tame a Wild Tongue: Gloria Anzaldua.35. Language as Boundary: Wole Soyinka.