Semantics of Belief and Knowledge in Natural Language

How do we use language to talk about what people believe, know, or want? Understanding these propositional attitudes is a cornerstone of formal semantics and the philosophy of language. In this text-based course, you will learn to dissect the meaning behind verbs of belief, desire, and assertion. You will transition from basic linguistic definitions to analyzing complex sentence structures and conversational pragmatics, gaining a rigorous framework for understanding natural language meaning. What you'll learn: 1. Understand the foundational concepts of propositional attitudes and speech acts. 2. Analyze the formal semantics of attitude verbs like believe, know, and want. 3. Explore the syntax of main and embedded clauses in natural language. 4. Apply pragmatic frameworks to model how context and conversation evolve. 5. Deconstruct the differences between asserting, asking, and desiring in formal models. 6. Connect traditional semantic theory with modern concepts in language understanding. The course begins with essential terminology and the philosophical foundations of meaning before moving into formal semantic representations of clauses and pragmatic context. You will practice through written semantic breakdowns and analytical exercises. This course is designed for beginners in linguistics, philosophy of language, or cognitive science, with no prior formal semantics training required. Start reading today to unlock the hidden logical structure of everyday language.