Philosophy of Language and Computation II, Spring 2025
ETH Zürich: Course catalog
Course Description
This graduate class, partly taught like a seminar, is designed to help you understand the philosophical underpinnings of modern work in natural language processing (NLP), most of which is centered around statistical machine learning applied to natural language data. The course will alternate between presentations given by the professors and by students enrolled in the course, followed by discussion-based teaching on the topics of each class. It is a two-semester-long journey, but the second half (Spring 2025) does not depend on the first (Spring 2024) and thus either half may be taken independently. In each semester, we divide the class time into three modules. Each module focuses on a philosophical topic. After discussing logicist, structuralist, and generative approaches to language in PLC I, in this semester we will focus on use theory of meaning, information theory, and critical perspectives on meaning. The modules will be between 3 and 5 weeks long. Half of each module will be devoted to reading and discussing theoretical texts and supplementary criticism. In the other half, we will read recent NLP papers and discuss how they relate to philosophical insights into our conception of language—perhaps implicitly or unwittingly. The course is designed to foster fruitful exchanges between students from different disciplinary horizons, especially between the STEM and the humanities. As such, no prior knowledge of CS/AI/NLP or philosophy is assumed.
The course will require a weekly reading of around 20 pages (with relatively high variance) and a weekly task (free-form response) related to the reading, which is to be completed online. The weekly tasks are short and not graded, but, in order to pass the class, at least 70% of the tasks must be completed. See this document for the guidelines on the free-form responses. The final grade will be based on one class presentation and one term paper (around 5-10 pages) which is to be turned in at the end of the semester. The term paper ideally corresponds to one of the three modules and the students will be expected to explore the relation of the topics discussed in class to work not presented in the class. For example, challenging how three recent NLP papers interpreted Wittgenstein’s use theory of meaning would be a good topic.
Grading
Marks for the course will be determined by the following formula:
- 40% Class presentation
- 60% Term paper
More detailed instructions about the paper and presentation requirements can be found here:
Organization
Lectures:
Tue 18-19, CAB G 52 CAB G 51.
The lectures will be given in person.
This recurring Zoom meeting (ID: 679 5240 4815) will be used throughout the semester for people who want to tune in remotely.
However, given the discussion based character of this course, in person participation is strongly encouraged.
The password can be found on the course Moodle page.
The Zoom recordings will be made available on the course Moodle page.
Discussion Sections:
Tue 19-20 CAB G 52 CAB G 51.
WARNING: Given the large number of registrations, the room is likely to change from the third week!
Communication Moodle will be the main communication hub for the course. You are responsible for receiving all messages broadcast in Moodle
Class Materials
News
19.2 New (bigger) room for our course! CAB G 51 Check it out here.
17.2 Class website is online!
Syllabus and Schedule
Contact
You can ask questions on the Moodle forum. Please post questions there, so others can see them and join the discussion. If you have questions which are not of general interest, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly, i.e., email the lecturers with the TAs cc-ed.
