Logic, Language & Politics

Teacher(s)

Reuchamps Min; Verdée Peter;

Language

English

Main themes

The topics approaches in this class will include:
- A quick overview of classical first order logic
- A quick overview of the standard philosophical analysis of language: syntax, semantics and pragmatics; reference, meaning and use.
- A selection of topics in modal logics for agent interaction: deontic logic, action logic and epistemic logic.
- A selection of topics in speech act theory.
- An analysis of how language operates in politics, e.g. the definition of rules of language use and how politicians seek to influence the use of language; the role of ' different ' language(s) in political discussions and negotiations; the role of linguistic devices (such as deictic) and in particular metaphors in the formation of political opinions; the analysis of political discourse via linguistic and socio-linguistic approaches.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	The skills acquired in this class will include: - Mastering the basic concepts of logics and the key ideas in the contemporary philosophy of language - Be able to understand the methods in discourse analysis - Get some basic understanding of socio-linguistics - Get an understanding of the role and importance of language in politics - Be able to apply these concepts and methods to political objects - Be able to understand how specific concepts from applied logic and philosophy of language can be used to better understand interactions between political actors.

Content

The course will proceed as follows.
A) During six weeks we explore the theory behind some crucial concepts needed when analyzing language in politics

1. Sociolinguistics
   
2. Rhetorics
   
3. Discourse analysis
   
4. Semantics and truth
   
5. Pragmatics and speech acts
   
6. Propositional logic and fallacies
   

B) A written exam will take place in the middle of the quadrimester to test the students’ understanding of the theoretical concepts
C) Six weeks of analysis of concrete discourse, guided by the students (in group).

• Students form 12 groups. Each group chooses one text or video of a speech, dialogue, op-ed, etc. related to politics.
  
• Students analyze their text or video of choice with the theoretical concepts learned in part 1.
  
• Each week two groups present their work with the active participation of the other students.
  

Evaluation methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

Grade in June:
10/20 of the final grade: the theoretical exam in the middle of the quadrimester
4/20 of the final grade: the group presentation of the analysis of a discourse
6/20 of the final grade: the students can obtain 1/20 each of the six weeks of student presentations by providing (written) aswers to questions proposed in advance by the students who present that week
Grade in September:
10/20 of the final grade: oral exam
10/20 of the final grade: a 5-page analysis of a discourse of choice.

Other information

Depending on the evolution of sanitary conditions and consequently of the sanitary code, the teaching and evaluation mode will possibly change, in whole or in part, to remote mode via one or several computer tools provided by the University.  Students enrolled in the course will be informed by e-mail.

Faculty or entity

ESPO