1 Mabaquiao, Napoleon. 2013. Of words and their meanings: Introducing the philosophy of language. In Exploring the philosophical terrain, ed. Elenita Garcia. Quezon City: C & E Publishing, Inc., pp. 76-93. OF WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS: INTRODUCING THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE Napoleon M. Mabaquiao, Jr. The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. --Ludwig Wittgenstein Tractatus logico-philosophicus INTRODUCTION The philosophy of language is mainly engaged in the activity of clarifying the meanings of our linguistic expressions. The relevance of this activity can be immediately seen in the role it plays in resolving disagreements or disputes. Disagreements are generally classified into the following kinds: disagreements in belief, disagreements in attitude, and merely verbal disagreements (see Copi 2002: 88-89). Disagreements in belief are disagreements about facts, which are properly resolved by verifying the facts at issue. The verification of facts can be done either by directly observing the facts, by examining relevant documents, or by appealing to appropriate authorities. An example of a disagreement of this kind is the one over whether a certain politician stole money from the government. Disagreements in attitude, on the other hand, are disagreements over preferences; and they are usually resolved by persuasion, if not by compromise. In the case of persuasion, it can be done either logically, such as when one’s arguments are consistent with the valid rules of deduction, or illogically, such as when one’s arguments commit the so-called informal fallacies. An example of a disagreement of this kind is the one over whether divorce should be legalized in our country. Lastly, merely verbal disagreements are disagreements that arise out of the misunderstanding of the meanings of our linguistic expressions; and they are properly resolved by clarifying the meanings of the misunderstood linguistic expressions. An example is when two friends are arguing over which movie to watch together only to find out later that they have the same movie in mind. Disagreements in belief and in attitude are considered genuine or real disagreements, while the merely verbal ones are not. This is so because, strictly speaking, there are no