CAS LX 502

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CAS LX 502

• 7a. Speech acts
• Ch. 8

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How to do things with words

• Language as a social function.
• I bet you 1 you cant name the Super Tuesday
  states. Youre on.
• I ate a sandwich.
• I promise to get up early and vote.
• I need the day off.
• I (now) pronounce you man and wife.
• I hereby sentence you to 90-days probation.
• May I have the salt?

NY, CA, MA, OH, VT, MN, CT, MD, RI, GA
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Conventional sentence types

• Declarative. (Assertion)
• I seem to have forgotten my umbrella.
• Interrogative. (Question)
• Where did I leave it?
• Imperative. (Order/Request)
• Go find my umbrella!
• Optative. (Wish)
• If only I had my umbrella!

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Austin (1955/1962/1975)

• A traditional view of meaning in language at the
  time (which we will explore in more depth)
  revolved around the assumptions that
• The basic sentence type is declarative.
• The main use of language is to describe states of
  affairs
• The meaning of utterances can be described in
  terms of truth and falsity (or the situations in
  which an utterance would be true/false).
• However, there are many sentence types and usages
  that cannot really be said to be true or
  false. This seems to cover only declaratives,
  and not even all of them.

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Performative utterances

• Certain utterances actually perform an act.
• I promise that I will do my homework.
• I hereby declare this meeting adjourned.
• For performative utterances, whether they are
  true or not is not at issue rather, we might ask
  whether they work (felicitous) or not
  (infelicitous).

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Felicity

• Generally speaking
• A1. There must be an accepted conventional
  procedure having a certain conventional effect,
  the procedure to include the uttering of certain
  words by certain persons in certain
  circumstances
• A2. The particular persons and circumstances must
  be appropriate for the invocation of the
  particular procedure invoked
• B1. The procedure must be executed by all the
  participants correctly
• B2. and completely
• Misfire, abuse,

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Three elements of a speech act

• Locutionary act speaking/writing a grammatical
  utterance.
• Illocutionary act action intended by the
  speaker.
• Perlocutionary act effect intended by the
  speaker.
• Arrest that man!
• Urging, advising,
• Persuading,

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Categorization of speech acts

• Searle (1976)
• Representatives. Commit to the truth of expressed
  proposition
• Asserting, concluding,
• Directives. Attempts to get addressee to do
  something
• Demanding, questioning, requesting,
• Commissives. Commit to a future course of action
• Promising, threatening, offering,
• Expressives. Express a psychological state
• Thanking, apologizing, congratulating,
• Declarations. Effect immediate changes in the
  institutional state of affairs.
• Christening, firing, marrying,

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Defining speech acts à la Searle

• Schema
• Preparatory condition(s)
• Propositional condition(s)
• Sincerity conditions(s)
• Essential condition(s)
• Promising (by S to H of A via P using E)
• Prep1 H would prefer Ss doing A to his not
  doing A and S believes H would prefer Ss doing
  A to not doing A.
• Prep2 It is not obvious to both S and H that S
  will do A in the normal course of events.
• Prop In expressing that P, S predicates a future
  act A of S.
• Sinc S intends to do A
• Ess the utterance E counts as an undertaking to
  do A.

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Defining speech acts à la Searle

• Schema
• Preparatory condition(s)
• Propositional condition(s)
• Sincerity conditions(s)
• Essential condition(s)
• Questioning (by S to H via P using E)
• Prep1 S does not know the missing information.
• Prep2 It is not obvious to S and H that H will
  provide the information without being asked.
• (Prop No condition, any proposition.)
• Sinc S wants the missing information.
• Ess The act counts as an attempt to elicit this
  information from H.

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Implicit v. explicit performatives

• I hereby promise to pay you 35 euros.
• Ill give you 35 euros.
• (a promise, not a prediction or a statement).
• Its a fuzzy line.

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Overriding conventionindirect speech acts

• Can you pass the spinach?
• Why dont you go find your teddy bear?
• Direct act question, indirect act request.
• I must ask you to leave.
• Direct act statement, indirect act
  order/request
• Its freezing in here.
• Direct act statement, indirect act request
• So how do we know which one is meant?

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Literal and non-literal

• Can you pass the spinach?
• (Please) pass the spinach.
• I wish you wouldnt tap your pencil.
• (Please) stop tapping your pencil.
• Are you going to eat your peas?
• (Please) eat your peas.
• Requesting (by S to H of A)
• Prep H is able to perform A.
• Sinc S wants H to do A.
• Prop S predicates a future act A of H.
• Ess Counts as an attempt by S to get H to do A.

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How we understand indirect speech acts

• Searle reasoning from
• Felicity conditions
• Context
• Principles of cooperative conversation
• Can you pass the salt? (Quantity)
• I wish you wouldnt tap your pencil. (Relation)
• ConventionAre you capable of passing me the
  salt?
• Perception of the direct actYes indeed.

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Why be indirect?

• Close the window.
• Can you close the window?
• I dont suppose you could close the window, could
  you?
• I wonder if youd mind closing the window.
• Its rather chilly in here.
• Diminishing threats to face (worthiness,
  autonomy).
• Id love to go, but I have to wash my hair, I
  have a headache, and its my mothers birthday.
  Maybe another time.

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