Philosophy of Language

Philosophy of language is the branch of philosophy that studies language. Its 
primary concerns include the nature of linguistic meaning, reference, language 
use, language learning and creation, language understanding, truth, thought 
and experience (to the extent that both are linguistic), communication, 
interpretation, and translation.

At heart, the discipline is concerned with five fundamental questions.

    * How are sentences composed into a meaningful whole?
    * What are the meanings of the parts of sentences?
    * What do we do with language? (How do we use it, socially? What is 
    the purpose of language?)
    * How does language relate to the mind?
    * How does language relate to the world?
    
Overview

Philosophers of language are not much concerned with what individual words 
or sentences mean. The nearest dictionary or encyclopedia may solve the 
problem of the meaning of words, and to speak a language correctly is generally 
to know what most sentences mean. What is more interesting for philosophers is 
the question of what it means for an expression to mean something. Why do 
expressions have the meanings they have? Which expressions have the same 
meaning as other expressions, and why? How can these meanings be known? And 
the best, and simplest, question might be, "what does the word 'meaning' 
mean?"

In a similar vein, philosophers wonder about the relationship between meaning 
and truth. Philosophers tend to be less concerned with which sentences are 
actually true, and more with what kinds of meanings can be true or false. Some 
examples of questions a truth-oriented philosopher of language might ask 
include: Can meaningless sentences be true or false? What about sentences 
about things that don't exist? Is it sentences that are true or false, or is 
it the usage of sentences?

Language, how things 'mean' something, and truth are important not just 
because they are used in everyday life. Language shapes human development, 
from earliest childhood and continuing to death. Knowledge itself may be 
intertwined with language. Notions of self, experience, and existence may 
depend entirely on how language is used and what is learned through it.

The topic of learning language leads to all kinds of interesting questions. 
Is it possible to have any thoughts without having a language? What kinds of 
thoughts need a language to happen? How much does language influence 
knowledge of the world and how one acts in it? Can anyone reason at all 
without using language?

The philosophy of language is important because, for all of the above reasons, 
language is important, and language is important because it is inseparable 
from how one thinks and lives. People in general have a set of vital concepts 
which are connected with signs and symbols, including all words (symbols): 
"object," "love," "good," "God," "masculine," "feminine," "art," 
"government," and so on. By incorporating "meaning," everyone has shaped 
(or has had shaped for us) a view of the universe and how they have 
"meaning" within it.

Set for the task, many philosophical discussions of language begin by 
clarifying terminology. Some philosophers (see semiotics) argue that the 
term "language" is too vague to be useful and entire systems have been 
developed to clarify the field.