PORTFOLIO ENTRY #4

SPEECH ACTS

When are words just words, and when do words force action?

 

SUMMARY:

↑ Click to open the image!

↓Let's see what we know about speech acts.

 1- Which is not one of the parts of speech defined by Austin?

Constatives 
Formatives  (correct) 
Performatives
None of the above


2- If the headline reads, "Heatwave!," but the sky is cloudy and it feels cold outside, what best describes the headline?

It is a performative
The printers accidentally printed yesterday's headline
It is a false constative (correct)
It is a grammar error

3- What is a speech act?

When people talk about what they are doing

When words are actions (correct)
A presentation that incites action
The constitutional amendment that allows for freedom of speech


4- Which felicity conditions best describe a successful performative?

Authoritative
Understood
Clear
Able to be executed

All of the above (correct)


5-Just because a performative meets the felicity conditions and is clearly stated, it doesn't mean it's implicitly followed.

True
False (correct)

6-Describe a time when you disregarded a performative that resulted in another performative (for example, you ignored the no running sign and were banished from the pool for the rest of the day).







Watch the video, 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql1tMSoEj3g
and you will know more about J. L. Austin (1911-1960). He was the first analytic philosopher to properly draw systematic attention to how we use words in everyday action, paving the way for a new field of linguistics (pragmatics) and influencing countless theories from many disciplines, including Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity.