J.L. Austin How to Do Things with Words
English Philosopher of Language, Linguistic Philosophy
Jun 15, 2009
Austin was a professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford and prominent in the study of everyday language. He produced two major works, How to Do Things with Words and Sense and Sensibilia.
Life of John Langshaw Austin in a Nutshell
John Langshaw Austin (1911-1960) was a British philosopher of language. He was born in Lancaster and educated at Shrewsbury School and at Balliol College, Oxford University. After serving for the British intelligence services (MI6) during the Second World War, he became a professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford.
He occupies a place in philosophy of language alongside Ludwig Wittgenstein in advocating the examination of the way words are used to give meaning. However, he disavowed superfluous indebtedness to Wittgenstein's later philosophy.
J.L. Austin's Philosophy
Austin's approach begins with an analysis of the different things people do with words. Through the ages, language philosophers have been impressed with language which has been used to represent how the world is, to say what is or is not the case. The notion of truth has been central to the philosophy of language.
He points out the many other things people do with words. They do not just represent how things are, they ask questions, give commands, make suggestions, give advice, tell jokes, make promises, even insult, persuade and intimidate. This led Austin to draw a three-fold distinction between different kinds of "speech-act."
The Three Speech-Act
Austin developed the following forms of speech-act.
- Locutionary Act - First, words have a distinct, conventional, meaning. The expression "The cat sat on the mat" refers to a cat, a mat and a relation between them, one sitting upon the other. This ordinary sense of meaning constitutes the "What is said" of any particular speech act.
- Illocutionary Act - Secondly, in saying certain words one actually commits an act. For example, in saying "I do" at a wedding, one makes a promise, in saying "Will you?" one asks a question, and saying "You will!" one gives an order.
- Perlocutionary Act - Finally, he points out that by saying something, one performs an action, by saying "I do" one weds, by saying something like "I will give you a better deal than the competitor," may cause a buyer to be persuaded, and so on.
Connecting the Three Speech-Act
However, these different functions of words are not necessarily exclusive. Austin is aware that many utterances can involve all the three kinds of acts. For instance, saying, "It's hot," is a locutionary act describing how one feels. It might also be taken in the context of a room with a close window, as an illocutionary act – a request to open the window. Finally, as the hearer responds by opening the window, the single utterance has also performed a perlocutionary act.
These distinctions significantly increase an understanding of the way in which language functions. They have profound effects on what is required of a theory of meaning.
Main Works by John Langshaw Austin
Austin wrote two philosophies that continue to be studied throughout the world today.
- How to do Things with Words, 1962. Austin attacks the view that the main purpose of uttering sentences is to state facts, which can either be true or false. He argues that uttering some sentences is neither to state a truth or a falsehood, but to perform a kind of action, he calls an "illocutionary act." Other sentences can cause an action to take place, he calls "perlocutionary act."
- Sense and Sensibilia, 1962. His idea is that inside the mind there are internal objects of perception that represent physical and external objects, and that this can sometimes cause misperceptions. Austin calls this the critique of sense-data theory.
Sources:
- McGovern, Una, Editor. Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2002.
- Stokes, Philip. Philosophy, the Great Thinkers. Capella, 2007.
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