Philosophy of Language: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy)

I bought this text as an introduction the philosophy of language. As the title suggests, it is just that. However, I am somewhat familar with the other books in this series, and they do not exactly "hold one's hand," as it were in the presentation of views on their topics; I felt as though Lycan was doing just that. Many of the debates that he discusses in this book are given a quite superficial treatment. He shies away from any engagement with the issues of logical form (and almost any use of symbolic logic at all); important distinctions such as extensionality/intensionality go unmentioned, and the organization--especially of the first section--is somewhat baffling, as some reviewers have already pointed out; and the central importance of demonstratives, for example, is just barely gestured at. What this book does have going for it, however, is the "further reading" sections at the end of each chapter and the concise "objection/response" sections in the theories of meaning section. However, this does not exactly set this book apart; Miller's "Philosophy of Language" has even more extensive "further reading" sections, a discernable theme (rather than Lycan's "dumptruck method" of exposition), and more substanative engagement with the issues. The only situation in which one might wish to use this book, in my opinion, is for an introduction to philosophy class that focuses on philosophy of language, or perhaps as "summer" or "winter break" reading *before* the class is to begin. In this sense, Lycan is successful in his aim of writing an "introductory" text, so it merits at least three stars, I suppose.