Book,
Speech Acts: an Essay in the Philosophy of Language
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, (1969)
Abstract
The author, professor of philosophy at the University of California
at Berkeley, investigates problems in the philosophy of language
from the standpoint that language is a rule-governed form of behavior.
He takes as his fundamental concept the "speech act," and gives an
analysis of what it is to make statements, ask questions, make promises,
and give orders, in terms of rules and intentional actions performed
according to rules. The results of this analysis are then applied
to current problems in philosophy: reference, universals, the naturalistic
fallacy, the analysis of meaning as use. Of particular concern are
the fallacies which spring from the lack of a coherent theory of
speech acts. (Author/AMM)
