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Work #725 · Late

How to Do Things with Words

J.L. Austin
1955 (William James Lectures at Harvard); 1962 (book, posthumous) · English
Analytic philosophy of language · British ordinary-language philosophy (Oxford)

Austin's 1962 foundational text of speech-act theory — performatives and the three forces (locutionary, illocutionary, perlocutionary)

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute How to Do Things with Words (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

How to Do Things with Words

The temporal life of speech-act performance.

Space

How to Do Things with Words

The social-communicative space.

Matter

How to Do Things with Words

The embodied speaker and hearer.

Observer

How to Do Things with Words

The speech-act-performing speaker.

Energy

How to Do Things with Words

Energies of illocutionary action.

Information

How to Do Things with Words

Foundational speech-act framework.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

How to Do Things with Words

Austin's speech-act theory foundational; subsequently extended by Searle, Habermas, and broader analytic philosophy of language.