Theories of Performativity
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SpeechActsFirstpublishedTueJul3,2007;substantiverevisionThuSep24,2020
Weareattunedineverydayconversationnotprimarilytothesentences
weuttertooneanother,buttothespeechactsthatthoseutterances
areusedtoperform:requests,warnings,invitations,promises,
apologies,predictions,andthelike.Suchactsarestaplesof
communicativelife,butonlybecameatopicofsustained
investigation,atleastintheEnglish-speakingworld,inthemiddle
ofthetwentieth
century.[1]
Sincethattime“speechacttheory”hasbecomeinfluential
notonlywithinphilosophy,butalsoinlinguistics,psychology,legal
theory,artificialintelligence,literarytheory,andfeministthought
amongotherscholarly
disciplines.[2]
Recognitionofthesignificanceofspeech
actshasilluminatedtheabilityoflanguagetodootherthingsthan
describereality.Intheprocesstheboundariesamongthephilosophy
oflanguage,thephilosophyofaction,aesthetics,thephilosophyof
mind,politicalphilosophy,andethicshavebecomelesssharp.In
addition,anappreciationofspeechactshashelpedlaybarea
normativestructureimplicitinlinguisticpractice,includingeven
thatpartofthispracticeconcernedwithdescribingreality.Much
recentresearchaimsatanaccuratecharacterizationofthisnormative
structureunderlyinglinguisticpractice.
1.Introduction
2.Content,Force,andHowSayingCanMakeItSo
2.1TheIndependenceofForceandContent
2.2CanSayingMakeitSo?
2.3TheoriesofPerformativity
3.AspectsofIllocutionaryForce
3.1DirectionofFit
3.2ConditionsofSatisfaction
3.3SevenComponentsofIllocutionaryForce
3.4DirectandIndirectForce
4.Mood,ForceandConvention
4.1ForceConventionalism
4.2ABiosemanticSpeciesofForceConventionalism
4.3AnIntentionalistAlternativetoForceConventionalism
5.Speaker-MeaningandForce
5.1Grice’sAccountofSpeakerMeaning
5.2ObjectionstoGrice’sAccount
5.3ForceasanAspectofSpeakerMeaning
6.Force,Norms,andConversation
6.1SpeechActsandConversations
6.2SpeechActsandScorekeeping
7.Force-IndicatorsandtheLogicallyPerfectLanguage
8.DoSpeechActsHaveaLogic?
9.SpeechActsandSocialIssues
Bibliography
FurtherReading
AcademicTools
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1.Introduction
BertrandRussell’sTheoryofDescriptions
wasaparadigmformanyphilosophersinthetwentiethcentury.One
reasonforthisisthatitsuggestedawaytorespondtolongstanding
philosophicalproblemsbyshowingthemtobespecious.Russellargued
thatsuchsentencesas‘ThepresentKingofSingaporeis
bald,’and,‘Theroundsquareisimpossible,’
possesssuperficialgrammaticalformsthataremisleadingastotheir
underlyinglogicalstructure.Insodoingheshowedhowsuchsentences
canbemeaningfulwithoutthisfactobligingustopositcurrent
Singaporeanmonarchsorroundsquares.Manyphilosophersinwhatcame
tobeknownastheOrdinaryLanguagemovementwereinspiredbythis
achievementtoarguethatclassicphilosophicalproblems(e.g.,of
freewill,therelationofmindtobody,truth,thenatureof
knowledge,andofrightandwrong)likewiserestedona
misunderstandingofthelanguageinwhichtheseproblemare
couched.InHowtoDoThingswithWords,
J.L.Austinforinstancewrites,
…inrecentyears,manythingswhichwouldoncehavebeen
acceptedwithoutquestionas‘statements’byboth
philosophersandgrammarianshavebeenscrutinizedwithnew
care…Ithascometobecommonlyheldthatmanyutterances
whichlooklikestatementsareeithernotintendedatall,oronly
intendedinpart,torecordorimpartstraightforwardinformation
aboutthefacts…Alongtheselinesithasbynowbeenshown
piecemeal,oratleastmadetolooklikely,thatmanytraditional
philosophicalperplexitieshavearisenthroughamistake-themistake
oftakingasstraightforwardstatementsoffactutteranceswhichare
either(ininterestingnon-grammaticalways)
nonsensicalorelseintendedassomethingquitedifferent.Whateverwe
maythinkofanyparticularoneoftheseviewsand
suggestions…itcannotbedoubtedthattheyareproducinga
revolutioninphilosophy.(Austin1962,pp.1–2)
TheOrdinaryLanguagemovement,withitsbroadclaimthatthemeaning
ofanexpressionshouldbeequatedwithitsuse,anditsdesireto
transcendtraditionalphilosophicalperplexities,didnotachievethe
revolutionofwhichAustinspeaks.Nonethelessoneofitsenduring
legaciesisthenotionofaspeechact.
Onewayofappreciatingthedistinctivefeaturesofspeechactsisin
contrastwithotherwell-establishedphenomenawithinthephilosophy
oflanguageandlinguistics.Accordinglyinthisentrywewill
considertherelationsamongspeechactsand:semanticcontent,
grammaticalmood,speaker-meaning,logicallyperfectlanguages,
perlocutions,
performatives,presuppositions,
andimplicature.Thiswillenableusto
situatespeechactswithintheirecologicalniche.
2.Content,Force,andHowSayingCanMakeItSo
Whereasanactofspeechisanyactof
uttering[3]
meaningfulwords,‘speechact’isatermof
art.Asafirstapproximation,speechactsarethoseactsthatcan(thoughneed
not)beperformedbysayingthatoneisdoingso.Onthisconception,
resigning,promising,assertingandaskingareallspeechacts,while
convincing,insultingandgrowingsixinchesarenot.Onecan,for
instance,resignbysaying,“Iresign…”,althoughone
canalsoresignfromapositionwithoutdescribingoneselfasdoing
so.However,thisconceptionistooinclusive,sinceitalso
countswhisperingasaspeechacteventhoughonecanwhisperastring
ofnonsensewordswithoutmeaninganything.Insteadamoreaccurate
characterizationofspeechactsbuildsonGrice’snotionof
speakermeaning.ThisnotionisdiscussedfurtherinSection5below,
butfornowitisenoughtonotethatinlookingatmywatch,Imight
betryingtotellthetime;orImightbetryingtoindicatetoyou
thatit’stimeforustoleave.Thelatter(butnottheformer)
isacaseofspeakermeaning.
Accordingly,aspeechactisatypeofactthatcanbe
performedbyspeakermeaningthatoneisdoingso.Thisconception
stillcountsresigning,promising,assertingandaskingasspeech
acts,whilerulingoutconvincing,insultingandwhispering.This
definitionleavesopenthepossibilityofspeechactsbeingperformed
wordlessly,aswellasspeechactsbeingperformedwithoutsayingthat
youaredoingso.Ourcharacterizationofspeechactscapturesthis
factinemphasizingspeakermeaningratherthantheutteringofany
words.
Speechactsarethusalsotobedistinguishedfrom
performatives.‘Performative’isanothertechnicalterm,
andasusedhereitrefersinthefirstinstancetoakindof
sentence.Aperformativesentenceisinthefirstperson,
presenttense,indicativemood,activevoice,thatdescribesits
speakerasperformingaspeechact.‘IassertthatGeorgeisthe
culprit,’isaperformativesentencebythistest.Aswehave
seen,onecanperformaspeechactwithoututteringa
performative.Further,sinceitismerelyatypeofsentence,onecan
utteraperformativewithoutperformingaspeechact.Forinstance,
whiletalkinginmysleepImightsay,“Iherebypromiseto
climbtheEiffelTower,”withouttherebymakinganypromise.We
mayalsodefineaperformativeutteranceasanutteranceof
aperformativesentencethatisalsoaspeech
act.[4]
Morenomenclature:‘Speechact’and
‘illocution’willherebeusedsynonymously.Thelatter
termisduetoAustin,whoused‘illocutionaryforce’to
refertoadimensionofcommunicativeacts.(Itisnowadayscommon
alsotouse‘illocute’asaverbmeaning‘toperform
aspeechact.’)Austin’sreasonforusing
‘force’beginswiththeobservationthat,construedasa
bitofobservablebehavior,thecommunicativesignificanceofanact
maybeunderdeterminedbywhathasbeensaidorobservablydone.Ibow
deeplybeforeyou.SofaryoumaynotknowwhetherIampaying
obeisance,respondingtoindigestion,orlookingforawaywardcontact
lens.Sotoo,anutteranceofameaningfulsentence(whichAustin
callsalocutionaryact)suchas‘You’llbemore
punctualinthefuture,’mayleaveyouwonderingwhetherIam
makingapredictionorissuingacommandorevenathreat.The
colloquialquestion,“Whatistheforceofthosewords?”
isoftenusedtoelicitananswer.Inaskingsuchaquestionwe
acknowledgeagraspofthosewords’meaningbutseektoknowhow
thatmeaningistobetaken–asathreat,asaprediction,oras
acommand.
Orsoitseems.InanearlychallengetoAustin,Cohen(1964)argues
thatthenotionofillocutionaryforceisotioseprovidedwealready
haveinplacethenotionofasentence’smeaning(Austin’slocutionary
meaning).Cohencontendsthatforaperformativesentencesuchas
‘Ipromisetoreadthatnovel,’itsmeaningalready
guaranteesthatitisapromise.Ontheotherhand,forasentence
thatisnotaperformative,suchas‘Iwillreadthat
novel,’ifitisunderstoodasbeingusedtomakeapromise,the
promiseisstillimplicitinthesentence’smeaning.Ineithercase,
Cohenconcludes,meaningalreadyguaranteesforceandsowedonot
requireanextra-semanticnotiontodoso.
Cohen’sreasoningassumesthatanyutteranceof‘Ipromise
toreadthatnovel’isapromise.Butaswehaveseenwiththe
caseofthesomniloquist,neitherasentence,noreventheutterance
ofasentence,issufficientonitsownfortheperformanceofa
speechact,beitapromiseorsomeother.Inasimilarspirittothat
ofCohen,Searle(1968,p.407)observesthataseriousandliteral
utteranceof‘Ipromisetoreadthatnovel,’madeunder
whatheterms“conditionsofsuccessfulutterance”,also
countsasapromise.Searleconcludesfromthisthatsomelocutionary
actsarealsoillocutionaryacts,andinfersfromthisinturnthat
forsomesentences,theirlocutionarymeaningdeterminestheir
illocutionaryforce.Thislastinferenceis,however,anon
sequitur.Aswehaveseen,theaforementionedsentence’s
meaningdoesnotdeterminetheillocutionaryforcewithwhichitis
uttered.Rather,whenthatsentenceisutteredinsuchawayasto
constituteapromise,whatdeterminesthatforceisthemeaningofthe
sentencetogetherwithsuchfactorsasthespeaker’s
beingseriousandothercontextualconditionsbeingmet.
WemaythusagreewithSearlethatsomelocutionaryactsarealso
illocutionaryacts,withoutlosingsightofourearlierobservation
thatlocutionarymeaningunderdeterminesillocutionaryforce.This
factaboutunderdeterminationisimpliedbyDavidson’sThesisofthe
AutonomyofLinguisticMeaning,accordingtowhichonceabitof
languagehasacquiredaconventionalmeaning,itcanbeusedforany
ofavarietyofextra-linguisticpurposes(Davidson,1979).Green1997
arguesforaqualificationofDavidson’sAutonomyThesistorecognize
sentenceshavingthefeaturethatiftheyareusedinaspeechact
all,thenthereisatleastoneotherillocutionaryforcethattheir
utterancemusthave.Eveninlightofthisqualifiedversionofthe
AutonomyThesis,themostthatcanbesaidof,‘Ipromiseto
climbtheEiffelTower,’isthatitisdesignedtobeusedto
makepromises,justascommonnounsaredesignedtobeusedtorefer
tothingsandpredicatesaredesignedtocharacterizethingsreferred
to.Below(Section6.3)weshallconsidertheviewthatforceisa
componentofmeaning,albeitnotofasentence’s
meaning.[5]
2.1TheIndependenceofForceandContent
Letusreturn,then,toanelucidationofourdistinctionbetweenwhat
aspeakersaysandtheforceofherutterance.Agrammaticalsentence
composedofmeaningfulwordsiscommonlythoughttoexpressa
“content,”whichisdeterminedbywhatthatsentence
literallymeanstogetherwithfeaturesofthecontextof
utterance.SupposeIsaytosomeoneinacrowdedsubway,“You’re
standingonmyfoot.”Iammostlikelytryingtoconveythe
messagethatheshouldmove.However,whatIliterallysayisonly
thattheaddresseeinquestionisstandingonmyfoot.Thisisthe
contentofmyutterance.Manyifnotmostutterancesofgrammatical
sentencescomposedofmeaningfulwordsexpressmorethanthose
sentences’contents.Pragmaticians,however,commonlydistinguish
contentfromotheraspectsofmeaningconveyedbyanutterance.On
thiswayofthinking,twointertranslatablesentencesofdifferent
languageswillexpressthesamecontent,andcertaintransformations
ofasentencewithinalanguagearecommonlythoughttoexpressthe
samecontent.Thus,‘MarysawJohn,’and‘Johnwas
seenbyMary,’willexpressthesamecontentevenifaspeaker’s
useofoneratherthananotherofthesewillcarryadistinctive
suggestion.Forindicativesentences,suchcontentsaretypically
calledPropositions.(InwhatfollowsIwillcapitalizethis
termtosignifythatitisinparttechnical.)Propositions,then,are
thecontentsofindicativesentences,arewhatsuchsentencesexpress,
and,further,areoftenthoughttobetheprimarybearersoftruth
value.
Illocutionaryforceandsemanticcontentareoftentakentobe
distinctfromoneanother,notjustinthewaythatyourleftand
righthandaredistinct,butratherbyvirtueoffallinginto
differentcategories.Stenius1967elucidatesthisdistinction,noting
thatinchemicalparlancearadicalisagroupofatoms
normallyincapableofindependentexistence,whereasafunctional
groupisthegroupingofthoseatomsinacompoundthatis
responsibleforcertainofthatcompound’sproperties.Analogously,a
Propositionisitselfcommunicativelyinert.Forinstance,merely
expressingthePropositionthatitissnowingisnottomakeamovein
a“languagegame”.Rather,suchamoveisonlymadeby
puttingforthaPropositionwithanillocutionaryforcesuchas
assertion,conjecture,command,etc.Thechemicalanalogygains
furthersupportfromthefactthatjustasachemistmightisolate
radicalsheldincommonamongvariouscompounds,thestudentof
languagemayisolateacommonelementheldamong‘Isthedoor
shut?’,‘Shutthedoor!’,and‘Thedooris
shut’.ThiscommonelementisthePropositionthatthedooris
shut,queriedinthefirstsentence,commandedtobemadetrueinthe
second,andassertedinthethird.Accordingtothechemicalanalogy,
then:
Illocutionaryforce:Propositionalcontent::functionalgroup:
radical
Inlightofthisanalogywemaysee,followingStenius,thatjust
asthegroupingofasetofatomsisnotitselfanotheratomorsetof
atoms,sotootheforwardingofaPropositionwithaparticular
illocutionaryforceisnotitselfafurthercomponentofPropositional
content.
Encouragedbythechemicalanalogy,acentraltenetinthestudyof
speechactsisthatcontentmayremainfixedwhileforce
varies.Theforceof
anutterancealsounderdeterminesitscontent:Justfromthefactthat
aspeakerhasmadeapromise,wecannotdeducewhatshehaspromised
todo.Forthesereasons,studentsofspeechactscontendthatagiven
communicativeactmaybeanalyzedintotwocomponents:forceand
content.Whilesemanticsstudiesthecontentsofcommunicativeacts,
pragmaticsstudiestheirforce.
Theforce/contentdistinctionalsofindsparallelsinour
understandingofmentality.Speechactsarenotonlymovesina
“languagegame.”Theyalsooftenpurporttoexpressof
statesofmindwithanalogousstructuralproperties.Anassertionthat
itissnowingpurportstoexpressthespeaker’sbeliefthatitis
snowing.ApromisetoreadMiddlemarchpurportstoexpress
thespeaker’sintentiontoreadMiddlemarch.Wefindevidence
fortheserelationshipsinthefactthatitisinsomesenseabsurdto
say,‘It’ssnowing,butIdon’tbelievethatitis,’and
‘IpromisetoreadMiddlemarch,butIhavenointention
ofdoing
so.’[6]
Further,justaswemaydistinguishbetween
anassertingandwhatisasserted(theso-called
“ing/edambiguity”forverbssuchas
‘assert’),andapromisingfromwhatis
promised,wemayalsodistinguishbetweenastateof
believingandwhatisbelieved,andastateoractofintendingand
whatisintended.Searle1983delineatesstructuralanalogiesbetween
speechactsandthementalstatestheyexpress.Pendlebury1986
succinctlyexplainsthemeritsofthisapproach.
Inspiteofthesestructuralanalogies,wemaystillwonderwhyan
elucidationofthenotionofforceisimportantforatheoryof
communication.ThatAisanimportantcomponentof
communication,andthatAunderdeterminesB,donot
justifytheconclusionthatBisanimportantcomponentof
communication.Contentalsounderdeterminesthedecibellevelatwhich
wespeakbutthisfactdoesnotjustifyaddingdecibelleveltoour
repertoireofcoreconceptsforpragmaticsorthephilosophyof
language.Whyshouldforcebethoughtanymoreworthyofadmissionto
thissetofcoreconceptsthandecibellevel?Onereasonforan
asymmetryinourtreatmentofforceanddecibellevelisthatthe
former,butnotthelatter,seemstobeacomponentofspeaker
meaning:Forceisafeaturenotofwhatissaidbutofhowwhat
issaidismeant;decibellevel,bycontrast,isafeatureatmostof
thewayinwhichsomethingissaid.ThispointisdevelopedinSection
5below.
Wehavespokenthusfarasifthecontentsofspeechactsmustbe
Propositions,andindeedSearleroutinelyanalyzesspeechactsas
havingtheformF(p)(e.g.,1975,p.344),where
‘F’istheforcecomponentand
‘p’thePropositionalcontentcomponent.However,
inthelasttwodecadeslinguisticsemanticshasdevelopedformal
representationsofcontentsforthetwoothermajorgrammaticalmoods
besidestheindicative,namelytheinterrogativeandthe
imperative.OnthestrengthoftheanalysesofHamblin(1958),Bell
(1975),Pendlebury(1986)andothers,onestrategyforthesemantics
ofinterrogativesistoconstruethemasexpressingsetsof
propositionsratherthanasingleproposition,whereeachelementof
theputativesetisacompleteanswertothequestionatissue.Thus
thecontentexpressedby‘Howmanydoorsareshut?’will
be{,,…}
wheretheellipsiswillbefilledbyasmanyotherPropositionsasit
isreasonabletointerpretthequestionerasaskingafter.Callsucha
setanInterrogative.AcompleteanswertoanInterrogative
isanelementofthesetbywhichitisdefined;apartialanswerisa
subsetofthatsetcontainingtwoormoremembers,aswouldnaturally
beexpressedbythesentence‘Betweentwoandfourdoorsare
shut.’Onthepresentconceptualization,justaswemay
distinguishbetweenexpressingandassertingaPropositionalcontent,
wemayalsodistinguishbetweenexpressinganInterrogativeandasking
aquestion.OnemerelyexpressesanInterrogativeinsuchanutterance
as,‘Johnwondershowmanydoorsareshut.’Infact,a
singleutterancemayexpresstwoInterrogativeswhileaskingneither,
asin‘Howmanydoorsareshutwilldependonhowmanycustomers
aretryingonclothes.’Askingaquestionisnolesssubstantial
aconversationalmovethanismakinganassertion.
Similarly,workbyHamblin(1987),Belnap(1990),Portner(2004)and
otherssuggestssemanticanalysesforsentencesintheimperative
mood:ononeapproachanimperativeexpressesaproperty,andwhenone
speakerissuesanimperativethatheraddresseeaccepts,thatproperty
isaddedtoher“todolist”,itselfaparameterofwhat
wewilllaterdescribeasconversationalscore(Section7).
Inlightoftheaboveliberalizationofthenotionofsentential
contenttoaccommodatethecontentsofnon-indicativesentences,we
mayrephraseStenius’schemicalanalogyasfollows:
Illocutionaryforce:sententialcontent::functionalgroup:
radical
withtheunderstandingthatdifferenttypesofsententialcontentwill
correspondtothedifferentgrammaticalmoods.Thisrefinedanalogy
wouldinturnrequiretheretobedifferenttypesof
radical.[7]
2.2CanSayingMakeitSo?
Insomecaseswecanmakesomethingthecasebysayingthatit
is.Alas,IcannotlosetenpoundsbysayingthatIamdoingso,nor
canIpersuadeyouofaclaimbysayingthatIamdoingso.Onthe
otherhandIcanpromisetomeetyoutomorrowbyutteringthewords,
“Ipromisetomeetyoutomorrow,”andifIhavethe
authoritytodoso,Icanevenappointyoutoanofficebysaying,
“Iherebyappointyou.”(Icanalsoappointyouwithout
makingtheforceofmyactexplicit:Imightjustsay,“Youare
nowTreasureroftheCorporation.”)Onlyanappropriate
authority,speakingattheappropriatetimeandplace,can:christena
ship,pronounceacouplemarried,appointsomeonetoanadministrative
post,declaretheproceedingsopen,orrescindanoffer.Austin,
inHowToDoThingsWithWords,detailstheconditionsthat
mustbemetforagivenspeechacttobe
performedfelicitously.
Failuresoffelicityfallintotwoclasses:misfires
andabuses.Theformerarecasesinwhichtheputativespeech
actfailstobeperformedatall.IfIutter,beforetheQEII,
“IdeclarethisshiptheNoamChomsky,”Ihavenot
succeededinnaminganythingbecauseIlacktheauthoritytodo
so.MyactthusmisfiresinthatI’veperformedanactofspeechbut
nospeechact.Otherattemptsatspeechactsmightmisfirebecause
theiraddresseefailstorespondwithanappropriateuptake:
Icannotbetyou$100onwhowillwintheelectionunlessyouaccept
thatbet.Ifyoudonotacceptthatbet,thenIhavetriedtobetbut
havenotsucceededinbetting.AswewillseeinSection9,a
systematicunwillingnessonthepartofaspeaker’sinterlocutorsto
respondwiththerequisiteuptakemaycompromisethatspeaker’s
freedomofspeech.
Somespeechactscanbeperformed–thatis,not
misfire—whilestillbeinglessthanfelicitous.Ipromiseto
meetyouforlunchtomorrow,buthaven’ttheleastintentionofmaking
good.HereIhavepromisedallright,buttheactisnotfelicitous
becauseitisnotsincere.Myactis,moreprecisely,
anabusebecausealthoughitisaspeechact,itfailsto
liveuptoastandardappropriateforspeechactsofits
kind.Sincerityisaparadigmconditionforthefelicityofspeech
acts.Austinforesawaprogramofresearchinwhichthousandsoftypes
ofspeechactwouldbestudiedindetail,withfelicityconditions
elucidatedforeach.[8]
AsobservedbySbisà2007,notonlycanIperformaspeechact
byspeakermeaningthatIamdoingso,Icanalso
subsequentlyrescindthatact.Icannot,itwouldseem,
changethepast,andsonothingIcandoonWednesdaycanchangethe
factthatImadeapromiseorassertiononMonday.However,on
WednesdayImaybeabletoretractaclaimImadeon
Monday.Ican’ttakebackapunchoraburp;themostIcandois
apologizeforoneoftheseinfractions,andperhapsmakeamends.By
contrast,notonlycanIapologizeormakeamendsforaclaimInow
regret;Icanalsowithdrawit.Likewise,youmayallowmeon
WednesdaytoretractthepromiseImadetoyouonMonday.Inboth
thesecasesofassertionandpromise,Iamnownolongerbeholdento
thecommitmentsthatthespeechactsengenderinspiteofthefact
thatthepastisfixed.Justasonecan,underappropriateconditions,
performaspeechactbyspeakermeaningthatoneisdoingso,sotoo
onecan,undertherightconditions,retractthatveryspeechact.
2.3TheoriesofPerformativity
Austinfamouslydeniedthatperformativesarestatements(1962,
p.6).Thismaybetakeneitherasthedenialthatperformative
sentences,eventhoseintheindicativegrammaticalmood,havetruth
value;orinsteadasthedenialthatutterancesofperformative
sentences,evenwhensuchsentenceshavetruthvalue,are
assertions.Onecanconsistentlyholdthatanindicativesentencehas
truthvalue,andeventhatitmaybeutteredinsuchawayastosay
somethingtrue,whiledenyingthatitsutteranceisan
assertion.(Testingamicrophoneinawindowlessroom,Iutter,
“It’sraining,”andithappenstoberainingoutside.Here
Ihavesaidsomethingtruebuthavemadenoassertion.)
Lemmon1962arguesthatperformativeutterancesaretrueontheground
thattheyareinstancesofawiderclassofsentenceswhoseutterance
guaranteestheirtruth.Ifsound,thisargumentwouldshowthat
performativeshavetruthvalue,butnotthattheyareassertions.It
alsoleavesunansweredthequestionwhysomeverbphrasessuchas
‘Ipromise’maybeusedperformativelywhileotherscannot
besoused.Sinnott-Armstrong1994alsoarguesthatperformativescan
havetruthvaluewithoutaddressingthequestionwhethertheyarealso
usedtomakeassertions.Reimer1995arguesthatwhileperformatives
havetruthvalues,theyarenotalsoassertions.Adoptingasimilar
strategy,Jary2007aimstoexplainhowutterancesofsuchsentences
as“Iorderyoutocleanthekitchen,”cansucceedin
beingorders.InsodoinghedrawsonGreen’s2007analysisof
showingtoarguethatsuchutterancesshow(ratherthanmerely
describe)theforceofthespeaker’sutterance.Because
‘show’isfactive,ifsuchanutteranceshowsitsforce,
thenitmusthavethatforce.
MostchallengestoAustin,however,construeperformativesas
assertionsandattempttoexplaintheirpropertiesinthat
light.Ginet1979arguesthatperformativeverbs
(‘promise,’‘appoint’,etc.)namethekindsof
actsthatonecanperformbyassertingthatoneisdoingso,and
elaboratesonwhythisisso.Inthiswayheoffersanaccountofhow
performativesworkthatdependsontheassumptionthatperformative
utterancesareassertions.Startingfromthatsameassumption,Bach
1975contendsthat‘Iorderyoutocleanthekitchen’is
anassertion,andproceedstoexplainonthisbasishowthespeakeris
indirectlyalsoissuinganorder.Thisexplanationdependsonthe
speaker’sbeingabletocountontheaddressee’sability
todiscernthespeaker’scommunicativeintention.Inlaterwork,
suchasBachandHarnish1978,and1992,thisviewisrefinedwitha
notionofstandardization,sothatasufficientlycommonpracticeof
issuingassertionswithperformativeeffectenablesspeakersand
hearerstobypasscomplexinferentialreasoningandjumpbydefaultto
aconclusionabouttheillocutionbeingperformed.Reimer1995
challengesBachandHarnishonthegroundthathearersdonotseemto
imputeassertoricforcetotheindicativesentencesspeakersutter
withperformativeeffect;hercriticismwouldevidentlycarryoverto
Ginet’sproposal.InsteadReimercontendsthat
performativeutterancesrestonsystemsofwhatsheterms
illocutionaryconventionstoachievetheirperformativeeffects.
Searle1969,p.62–4,hadarguedthataperformativeformulasuchas
“Ipromiseto…”isan“illocutionaryforce
indicator”inthesensethatitisadevicewhoseroleisto
makeexplicittheforceofthespeaker’sutterance.Makingsomething
explicit,however,wouldseemtoinvolvecharacterizinganindependent
eventorstateofaffairs,andasaresultSearle’saccount
presupposesthatspeakerscanimbuetheirutteranceswiththeforceof
demotionsandexcommunications;yetthisiswhatwastobe
explained.Realizingthis,SearleandVanderveken(1985)characterize
performativesasspeechactshavingtheforceof
declarations.Uncontroversialexamplesofthisspeechactare
declaringwaroradjourningameeting.Searle1989thenacknowledges
thatthisaccountpushesusbacktothequestionhowcertain
expressionscometohavethepowertomakedeclarations.Inthatsame
workheoffersananswerthatdependsontheviewthatinutteringa
sentencewithaperformativeprefix,aspeakermanifestsanintention
toperformanactofacertainkind:inutteringthewords,‘I
orderyoutoclosethedoor’,Imanifestanintentiontoorder
youtoclosethedoor,etc.Searlealsotakesitthatmanifestingan
intentiontoperformaspeechactissufficientfortheperformanceof
thatact.Onthisbasis,Searlegoesontoattempttoderivethe
assertoricnatureofperformatives,holdingthatwhenutteredinsuch
awayastosaysomethingtrue,theyarealsoassertions.
3.AspectsofIllocutionaryForce
Austindistinguishesillocutionaryactsintofivecategories:
verdictives(inwhichaspeakergivesaverdict,e.g.acquittingand
diagnosing),exercitives(inwhichspeakersexercisepowers,rightsor
influence,e.g.excommunicatingandresigning),commissives(inwhich
speakerscommitthemselvestocausesorcoursesofaction,
e.g.promisingandbetting),behabitives(concerningattitudesand
socialbehavior,e.g.apologizingandtoasting),andexpositives(in
whichspeakersclarifyhowtheirutterancesfitintolinesof
reasoning,e.g.,postulatinganddefining).
Searle(1975)criticizesAustin’staxonomyontwocentral
grounds.First,Austin’smethodologyisundulylexicographic,
assumingthatwecanlearnabouttherangeandlimitsofillocutionary
actsbystudyingillocutionaryverbsinEnglishorothernatural
languages.However,Searleobserves,nothingrulesoutthepossibility
oftherebeingillocutionaryactsthatarenotnamedbyaverbeither
inaparticularlanguagesuchasSwahiliorBengali,orindeedinany
languageatall;similarly,twonon-synonymousillocutionaryverbsmay
yetnameoneandthesameillocutionaryact.
Second,Searlearguesthattheprinciplesofdistinctionamong
Austin’scategoriesareunclear.Forinstance,behavitivesseem
tobeaheterogeneousgroupwithlittleunifyingprinciple.Similarly,
‘describe’appearsbothasaverdictiveandasan
expositivewhereasonewouldexpecttaxonomiccategoriestobe
mutuallyexclusive.Moregenerally,Austin’sbriefaccountof
eachcategorygivesnodirectionastowhythiswayofdelineating
themdoessoalongtheirmostfundamentalfeatures.Searleoffersa
newcategorizationofspeechactsbasedonrelativelyclearprinciples
ofdistinction.Toappreciatethisitwillhelptoexplainsomeofthe
basicconceptsheusesforthispurpose.
3.1DirectionofFit
ConsideranexamplederivedfromAnscombe(1963):awomansendsher
husbandtothegrocerystorewithalistofthingstoprocure;
unbeknownsttohimheisalsobeingtrailedbyadetectiveconcerned
tomakealistofwhatthemanbuys.Bythetimethehusbandand
detectiveareinthecheckoutline,theirtwolistscontainexactly
thesameitems.Thecontentsofthetwolistsdiffer,however,along
anotherdimension.Forthecontentsofthehusband’slistguidewhat
heputsinhisshoppingcart.Insofar,hislistexhibits
world-to-worddirectionoffit:Itis,sotospeak,thejob
oftheitemsinhiscarttoconformtowhatisonhislist.By
contrast,itisthejobofthedetective’slisttoconformwiththe
world,inparticulartowhatisinthehusband’scart.Assuch,the
detective’slisthasword-to-worlddirectionoffit:Theonus
isonthosewordstoconformtohowthingsare.Speechactssuchas
assertionsandpredictionshaveword-to-worlddirectionoffit,while
speechactssuchascommandshaveworld-to-worddirectionoffit.
Notallspeechactsappeartohavedirectionoffit.Icanthankyou
bysaying“Thankyou,”anditiswidelyagreedthat
thankingisaspeechact.However,thankingseemstohaveneitherof
thedirectionsoffitwehavediscussedthusfar.Similarly,asking
whoisatthedoorisaspeechact,butitdoesnotseemtohave
eitherofthedirectionsoffitwehavethusfarmentioned.Somewould
respondbyconstruingquestionsasaformofimperative(e.g.,
“Tellmewhoisatthedoor!”),andthenascribingthe
directionoffitcharacteristicofimperativestoquestions.This
leavesuntouched,however,banalcasessuchasthankingoreven,
“HoorayforArsenal!”Someauthors,suchasSearleand
Vanderveken1985,describesuchcasesashaving“null”
directionoffit.Thatcharacterizationisevidentlydistinctfrom
sayingsuchspeechactshavenodirectionoffitat
all.[9]
Directionoffitisalsonotsofine-grainedastoenableusto
distinguishspeechactsmeritingdifferenttreatment.Consider
assertingthatthecenteroftheMilkyWayisinhabitedbyablack
hole,asopposedtoconjecturingthatthecenteroftheMilkyWayis
soinhabited.Thesetwoactsaresubjecttodifferentnorms:The
formerpurportstobeamanifestationofknowledge,whilethelatter
doesnot.Thisissuggestedbythefactthatitisappropriateto
replytotheassertionwith,“Howdoyouknow?”
(Williamson1996),whilethatisnotanappropriateresponsetothe
conjecture(Green2017).Nevertheless,boththeassertionand
conjecturehaveword-to-worlddirectionoffit.Mighttherebeother
notionsenablingustomarkdifferencesbetweenspeechactswiththe
samedirectionoffit?
3.2ConditionsofSatisfaction
Onesuggestionmightcomefromtherelatednotionofconditionsof
satisfaction.Thisnotiongeneralizesthatoftruth.Aswesawin
2.3,itisinternaltotheactivityofassertionthatitaimsto
capturehowthingsare.Whenanassertiondoesso,notonlyisit
true,ithashititstarget;theaimoftheassertionhasbeenmet.A
similarpointmaybemadeofimperatives:itisinternaltothe
activityofissuinganimperativethattheworldisenjoinedto
conformtoit.Theimperativeissatisfiedjustincaseitis
fulfilled.Assertionsandimperativesbothhaveconditionsof
satisfaction—truthinthefirstplace,andconformityinthe
second.Inaddition,itmightbeheldthatquestionshaveanswerhood
astheirconditionsofsatisfaction:Aquestionhitsitstargetjust
incaseitfindsananswer,ofteninaspeechact,suchasan
assertion,thatanswersthequestionposed.Likethenotionof
directionoffit,however,thenotionofconditionsofsatisfactionis
toocoarse-grainedtoenableustomakesomevaluabledistinctions
amongspeechacts.Justtouseourearliercaseagain:anassertion
andaconjecturethatPhaveidenticalconditionsof
satisfaction,namelythatPbethecase.Maywediscern
featuresdistinguishingthesetwospeechacts,inawayenablingusto
makefiner-graineddistinctionsamongotherspeechactsaswell?I
shallreturntothisquestioninSections6–7.
3.3SevenComponentsofIllocutionaryForce
InanattempttosystematizeanddeepenAustin’sapproach,Searleand
Vanderveken1985distinguishbetweenthoseillocutionaryforces
employedbyspeakerswithinagivenlinguisticcommunity,andtheset
ofallpossibleillocutionaryforces.Whileacertainlinguistic
communitymaymakenouseofforcessuchasconjecturingor
appointing,thesetwoareamongthesetofallpossibleforces.(These
authorsappeartoassumethatwhilethesetofpossibleforcesmaybe
infinite,ithasadefinitecardinality.)SearleandVandervekengoon
todefineillocutionaryforceintermsofsevenfeatures,namely:
Illocutionarypoint:Thisisthecharacteristicaimof
eachtypeofspeechact.Forinstance,thecharacteristicaimofan
assertionistodescribehowthingsare,andperhapsalsotobring
aboutbeliefinanaddressee;thecharacteristicaimofapromiseis
tocommitoneselftoafuturecourseofaction.
Degreeofstrengthoftheillocutionarypoint:Two
illocutionscanhavethesamepointbutdifferalongthedimensionof
strength.Forinstance,requestingandinsistingthattheaddresseedo
somethingbothhavethepointofattemptingtogettheaddresseetodo
thatthing;however,thelatterisstrongerthantheformer.
Modeofachievement:Thisisthespecialway,ifany,in
whichtheillocutionarypointofaspeechactmustbe
achieved.Testifyingandassertingbothhavethepointofdescribing
howthingsare;however,theformeralsoinvolvesinvokingone’s
authorityasawitnesswhilethelatterdoesnot.Totestifyisto
assertinone’scapacityasawitness.Commandingand
requestingbothaimtogettheaddresseetodosomething;yetonly
someoneissuingacommanddoessoinhercapacityasaperson
inapositionofauthority.
Contentconditions:Someillocutionscanonlybeachieved
withanappropriatepropositionalcontent.Forinstance,Icanonly
promisewhatisinthefutureandundermycontrol;or,atleast,I
cannotpromisetodoanythingthatitisobvioustomyselfandmy
promisseethatIcannotdo.Sotoo,Icanonlyapologizeforwhatis
insomesenseundermycontrolandalreadythecase.(Inlightofour
discussionaboveofsemanticsfornon-indicativecontents,this
conditioncouldberecastintermsofimperatival,interrogative,and
propositionalcontentconditions.)
Preparatoryconditions:Theseareallotherconditions
thatmustbemetforthespeechactnottomisfire.Suchconditions
oftenconcernthesocialstatusofinterlocutors.Forinstance,a
personcannotbequeathanobjectunlessshealreadyownsitorhas
powerofattorney;apersoncannotmarryacoupleunlesssheis
legallyinvestedwiththeauthoritytodoso.
Sincerityconditions:Manyspeechactsinvolvethe
expressionofapsychologicalstate.Assertionexpressesbelief;
apologyexpressesregret,apromiseexpressesanintention,andso
on.Aspeechactissincereonlyifthespeakerisinthe
psychologicalstatethatherspeechactexpresses.
Degreeofstrengthofthesincerityconditions:Two
speechactsmightbethesamealongotherdimensions,butexpress
psychologicalstatesthatdifferfromoneanotherinthedimensionof
strength.Requestingandimploringbothexpressdesires,andare
identicalalongtheothersixdimensionsabove;however,thelatter
expressesastrongerdesirethantheformer.
SearleandVanderveken(1985)suggest,inlightoftheseseven
characteristics,thateachillocutionaryforcemaybedefinedasa
septupleofvalues,eachofwhichisa“setting”ofa
valuewithinoneofthesevencharacteristics.Itfollows,according
tothissuggestion,thattwoillocutionaryforces
F1andF2areidenticaljust
incasetheycorrespondtothesameseptuple.
3.4DirectandIndirectForce
Icannotslowtheexpansionoftheuniverseorconvinceyouofthe
truthofaclaimbysayingthatIamdoingso.However,thesetwo
casesdifferinthatthelatter,butnottheformer,isa
characteristicaimofaspeechact.Onecharacteristicaimof
assertionistheproductionofbeliefinanaddressee,whereasthere
isnospeechactoneofwhosecharacteristicaimsistheslowingof
theuniverse’sexpansion.Atypeofspeechactcanhavea
characteristicaimwithouteachspeechactofthattypebeingissued
withthataim:Speakerssometimesmakeassertionswithoutaimingto
producebeliefinanyone,eventhemselves.Instead,theviewthata
speechact-typehasacharacteristicaimisakintotheviewthata
biologicaltraithasafunction.Thecharacteristicroleofwingsis
toaidinflighteventhoughsomeflightlesscreaturesarewinged.
Austincalledthesecharacteristicaimsofspeech
actsperlocutions(1962,p.101).Icanbothurgeand
persuadeyoutoshutthedoor,yettheformerisanillocutionwhile
thelatterisaperlocution.Howcanwetellthedifference?Wecando
sobynotingthatundertherightconditions,onecanurgejustby
sayingandspeakermeaning,“Iherebyurgeyoutoshutthedoor,”whilethere
arenocircumstancesinwhichIcanpersuadeyoujustbysaying,
“Iherebypersuadeyoutoshutthedoor.”Acharacteristic
aimofurgingis,nevertheless,theproductionofaresolutiontoact
(1962,p.107).Cohen(1973)developstheideaofperlocutionsas
characteristicaimsofspeechacts.
Perlocutionsarecharacteristicaimsofoneormoreillocution,but
arenotthemselvesillocutions.Nevertheless,onespeechactcanbe
performedbymeansoftheperformanceofanother.Forinstance,my
remarkthatyouarestandingonmyfootisnormallytakenas,in
addition,ademandthatyoumove;myquestionwhetheryoucanpassthe
saltisnormallytakenasarequestthatyoudoso.Theseareexamples
ofso-calledindirectspeechacts(Searle1979).Phrasesthat
arecommonlyusedinserviceofindirectspeechactsare,‘Would
youmindterriblyifI…,’‘MightI
suggest…,’and‘Itseemstomethat…’,
orsimply‘please’,asin‘Canyoupassthesalt,
please?’Observethatthislastsentence,withitsappended
tag-question,cannotbeinterpretedasarequestforinformation
(abouttheaddressee’ssalt-passingabilities),butcanonlybe
understoodasarequest.AsherandLascarides(2001)provideaformal
modelofindirectspeechactsonwhichsomeareconventionalizedwhile
othersrequireGriceanreasoningfortheirinterpretation.
Whileindirectcommunicationisubiquitous,indirectspeechactsare
lesscommonthanmightfirstappear.Inaskingwhetheryouintendto
quitsmoking,Imightbetakenaswelltobesuggestingthatyou
quit.However,whiletheembattledsmokermightjumptothis
interpretation,wedowelltoconsiderwhatevidencewouldmandate
it.Afterall,whileIprobablywouldnothaveaskedwhetheryou
intendedtoquitsmokingunlessIhopedyouwouldquit,Icanevince
suchahopewithoutperformingthespeechactofsuggesting.Evincing
apsychologicalstate,evenifdoneintentionally,arguablydoesnot
constituteaspeechact.Instead,intentionallyevincinga
psychologicalstatemaybeunderstoodassimplyexpressingthat
state(SeeGreen2020,ch.2).
Whether,inadditiontoagivenspeechact,Iamalsoperformingan
indirectspeechactwouldseemtodependonmyintentions.Myquestion
whetheryoucanpassthesaltisalsoarequestthatyoudosoonlyif
Iintendtobesounderstood.Whatismore,thisintentionmustbe
feasiblydiscernibleonthepartofone’saudience.Evenif,in
remarkingonthefineweather,Iintendaswelltorequestthatyou
passthesalt,IwillnothaveissuedarequestunlessIhavemade
thatintentionmanifestinsomeway.
HowmightIdothis?Onewayisbymakinganinferencetothebest
explanation.Perhapsthebestexplanationofmyaskingwhetheryoucan
passthesaltisthatImeantoberequestingthatyoudoso,and
perhapsthebestexplanationofmyremarkingthatyouarestandingon
myfoot,particularlyifIuseastentoriantoneofvoice,isthatI
meantobedemandingthatyoudesist.Bycontrast,itisdoubtfulthat
thebestexplanationofmyaskingwhetheryouintendtoquitsmoking
isthatIintendtosuggestthatyoudoso.Anotherexplanationat
leastasplausibleismyhope,orexpressionofhope,thatyoudo
so.Bertolet1994developsamoreskepticalpositionthanthat
suggestedhere,arguingthatanyallegedcaseofanindirectspeech
actcanbeconstruedjustasanindication,bymeansofcontextual
clues,ofthespeaker’sintentionalstate—hope,desire,etc.,as
thecasemaybe.Postulationofafurtherspeechactbeyondwhathas
been(relatively)explicitlyperformedis,hecontends,explanatorily
unmotivated.McGowanetal.(2009)replybyofferingthree
conditionstheytaketobesufficientforacaseofwhattheyterm
linguisticcommunication.Theywouldalsoarguethatin,forinstance,
thesmokingcase,thespeakermeetsthosethreeconditions,andthus
countsassuggestingthattheaddresseequitsmoking.Bertolet(2017)
repliesthatthesethreeconditionsarenotsufficientforaninstance
ofspeakermeaning,andgiventhat(aswehaveseen)speakermeaning
isanecessaryconditionfor(non-conventional)speechacts,concludes
thatMcGowanetal.havenotestablishedthatthecasesthat
concernthemareindirectspeechacts.
Theseconsiderationssuggestthatindirectspeechacts,iftheydo
occuratall,canbeexplainedwithintheframeworkofconversational
implicature–thatprocessbywhichwemeanmore(andonsome
occasionsless)thanwesay,butinawaynotdueexclusivelytothe
conventionalmeaningsofourwords.Conversationalimplicature,too,
dependsbothuponcommunicativeintentionsandtheavailabilityof
inferencetothebestexplanation(Grice,1989).Infact,
Searle’s1979influentialaccountofindirectspeechactsis
couchedintermsofconversationalimplicature(althoughhedoesnot
usethisphrase).Thestudyofspeechactsisinthisrespect
intertwinedwiththestudyofconversations;wereturntothistheme
inSection
6.[10]
4.Mood,ForceandConvention
Notonlydoescontentunderdetermineforce;contenttogetherwith
grammaticalmooddoessoaswell.‘You’llbemorepunctualin
thefuture’isintheindicativegrammaticalmood,butaswe
haveseen,thatfactdoesnotdetermineitsforce.Thesamemaybe
saidofothergrammaticalmoods.AlthoughIoverhearyouutterthe
words,‘shutthedoor’,Icannotinferyetthatyouare
issuingacommand.Perhapsinsteadyouaresimplydescribingyourown
intention,inthecourseofsaying,“Iintendtoshutthe
door.”Ifso,you’veusedtheimperativemoodwithoutissuinga
command.Sotoowiththeinterrogativemood:Ioverhearyourwords,
‘whoisonthephone.’ThusfarIdon’tknowwhether
you’veaskedaquestion,sinceyoumayhavesospokeninthecourseof
stating,“Johnwonderswhoisonthephone.”Mighteither
orbothofinitialcapitalizationorfinalpunctuationsettlethe
issue?Apparentlynot:WhatpuzzlesMeredithisthefollowing
question:Whoisonthephone?
Moodtogetherwithcontentunderdetermineforce.Ontheotherhandit
isaplausiblehypothesisthatgrammaticalmoodisoneofthedevices
weuse(togetherwithcontextualclues,intonation,andthelike)to
indicatetheforcewithwhichweareexpressingacontent.Understood
inthisweakway,itisunexceptionabletoconstruetheinterrogative
moodasusedforaskingquestions,theimperativalmoodasusedfor
issuingcommands,andsoon.Sounderstood,wemightgoontoaskhow
speakersindicatetheforceoftheirspeechactsgiventhat
grammaticalmoodandcontentcannotbereliedonalonetodoso.
4.1ForceConventionalism
Onewellknownanswerwemaytermforce
conventionalism.Accordingtoastrongversionofthisview,for
everyspeechactthatisperformed,thereissomeconventionthatwill
havebeeninvokedinordertomakethatspeechactoccur.This
conventiontranscendsthoseimbuingwordswiththeirliteral
meaning.Thus,forceconventionalismimpliesthatinorderforuseof
‘Ipromisetomeetyoutomorrowatnoon,’toconstitutea
promise,notonlymustthewordsusedpossesstheirstandard
conventionalmeanings,theremustalsoexistaconventiontothe
effectthattheuse,undertherightconditions,ofsomesuchwordsas
theseconstitutesapromise.Austinseemstohaveheldthis
view.Forinstanceinhischaracterizationof“felicity
conditions”forspeechacts,Austinholdsthatforeachspeech
act
Theremustexistanacceptedconventionalprocedurehavingacertain
conventionaleffect,thatproceduretoincludetheutteringofcertain
wordsbycertainpersonsincertaincircumstances…(1962,
p.14).
Austin’sstudentSearlefollowshiminthis,writing
…utteranceactsstandtopropositionalandillocutionaryacts
inthewayinwhich,e.g.,makinganXonaballotpaper
standstovoting.(1969,p.24)
Searlegoesontoclarifythiscommitmentinaverring,
…thesemanticstructureofalanguagemayberegardedasa
conventionalrealizationofaseriesofsetsofunderlying
constitutiverules,and…speechactsareacts
characteristicallyperformedbyutteringsentencesinaccordancewith
thesesetsofconstitutiverules.(1969,p.37)
Searleespousesaweakerformofforceconventionalismthandoes
Austininleavingopenthepossibilitythatsomespeechactscanbe
performedwithoutconstitutiverules;Searleconsidersthecaseofa
dogrequestingtobeletoutside(1969,p.39).NeverthelessSearle
doescontendthatspeechactsarecharacteristicallyperformedby
invokingconstitutiverules.
4.2ABiosemanticSpeciesofForceConventionalism
Millikan(1998)espousesaparsimoniousconceptionofconventionsthat
sheterms‘naturalconventions,’andontheassumption
thatnaturalconventionsareatypeofconvention,onewouldexpect
thisstrategytomakeiteasiertodefendtheviewthatspeechacts
areinherentlyconventional.ForMillikan,anatural
conventionisconstitutedbypatternsthatarereproducedby
virtueoftheweightof
precedent.[11]
Apatternisreproducedjustin
caseithasaformthatderivesfromapreviousentityhaving,in
certainrespects,thesameform,andinsuchawaythathadthe
previousformbeendifferentinthoserespects,thecurrentformwould
bedifferentinthoserespectsaswell(1998,p.163).Photocopying
isoneformofreproductionmeetingthesecriteria;theretinotopic
mappingfrompatternsofstimulationontheretinatopatternsof
stimulationinthevisualcortexisevidentlyanother.Millikanwould
nottreatretinotopicmappingasatypeofconvention,however,since
itwouldnotseemtobeperpetuatedbyvirtueoftheweightof
precedent.Thepointisdifficulttodiscern,however,sinceinher
discussionofthematterMillikandiscussestheconditionsunderwhich
apatternistakentobeconventional,ratherthanforitto
beconventional,writing
Tobethoughtofasconventional,areproducedpatternmustbe
perceivedasproliferateddue,inimportantpart,toweightof
precedent,nottoitsintrinsicallysuperiorcapacitytoproducea
desiredresult,ordue,say,toignoranceofalternatives(ibid,
p.166).
Millikanthusseemstocharacterizewhatitisforapatternto
haveweightofprecedentintermsofthatpattern’sbeingperceivedto
havesuchweight.Thisnotionisnotitselfelucidated,andasa
resultthenotionofweightofprecedentisleftobscureinher
account.Nonetheless,shetellsusthatjustastheconventionsof
chessdictatethatwhenone’skingisincheck,onedoeswhatonecan
togethimoutofcheck;sotootheconventionsoflanguagedictate
thatwhenAtellsBthatp,Brespondsby
believingthatp.Millikandescribesthehearer’sresponseasa
hidden,inneractthatisnotunderB’svoluntarycontrol.Millikan
alsodescribesthisresponseasbeinglearnedinthewaythatwelearn
whatshecalls“naturalsignpatterns,”suchasour
learningthatthesoundofcrashingwavesisanindicationofanearby
coastline.
OnMillikan’sview,then,A’sassertionofpbeing
followedbyB’sbeliefthatpisaprocessthatisnot
intrinsicallysuperiortoothersthatmighthavebeenfollowed.This
maybedoubted,however.What,after,allwouldbeviablealternative
responses?Disbelievingp?Remainingneutralonthequestion
ofp?Scratchingone’sleftearlobe?Anyoftheseresponses
wouldtendtounderminetheuseoflanguageasameansfortransmissionof
information.Whatismore,ifbeliefformationisnotunderthe
voluntarycontrolofaddressees,itisobscurehowthisaspectof
communicationcouldbeconventional,anymorethanthepatternof
stimulationofourvisualcortexisconventionalwhenthatpattern
resultsfromanisomorphicpatternontheretina.
4.3.AnIntentionalistAlternativetoForceConventionalism
Force-conventionalismasespousedbyAustinandlaterSearlehasbeen
challengedbyStrawson,whowrites,
Idonotwanttodenythattheremaybeconventionalposturesor
proceduresforentreating:onecan,forexample,kneeldown,raise
one’sarms,andsay,“Ientreatyou.”ButIdowantto
denythatanactofentreatycanbeperformedonlyasconformingto
suchconventions….[T]osupposethatthereisalwaysandnecessarily
aconventionconformedtowouldbelikesupposingthattherecouldbe
noloveaffairswhichdidnotproceedonlineslaiddownin
theRomandelaRoseorthateverydisputebetweenmenmust
followthepatternspecifiedinTouchstone’sspeechaboutthe
countercheckquarrelsomeandtheliedirect.(1964,p.444)
Strawsoncontendsthatratherthanappealingtoaseriesof
extra-semanticconventionstoaccountforthepossibilityofspeech
acts,weexplainthatpossibilityintermsofourabilitytodiscern
oneanother’scommunicativeintentions.Whatmakesanutterance
ofasentenceintheindicativemoodapredictionratherthana
command,forinstance,isthatitmanifestsanintentiontobeso
taken;likewiseforpromisesratherthanpredictions.Thispositionis
compatiblewithholdingthatinspecialcaseslinguisticcommunities
haveinstitutedconventionsforparticularspeechactssuchas
appointingandexcommunicating.Sotoo,asSkinner(1970)observes,
understandingtheutterancesofanhistoricalfigurecruciallydepends
onsensitivitytoconventionsofthesocietyinwhichtheyare
made.
Intendingtomakeanassertion,promise,orrequest,however,isnot
enoughtoperformoneoftheseacts.Thoseintentionsmustbe
efficacious.Thesamepointappliestocasesoftryingtoperforma
speechact,evenwhenwhatoneistryingtodoisclearto
others.Thisfactemergesfromreflectingonanoft-quotedpassage
fromSearle:
Humancommunicationhassomeextraordinaryproperties,notsharedby
mostotherkindsofhumanbehavior.Oneofthemostextraordinaryis
this:IfIamtryingtotellsomeonesomething,then(assumingcertain
conditionsaresatisfied)assoonasherecognizesthatIamtryingto
tellhimsomethingandexactlywhatitisIamtryingtotellhim,I
havesucceededintellingittohim.(1969,p.47.)
AsGreen2013observes,thepointmaybedoubted.SupposeIam
tryingtoworkupthecouragetoaskSidney’shandin
marriage.Sidneyrecognizesthisfactonthebasisofbackground
knowledge,myvisibleembarrassment,andmyfumblinginmypocketfor
anengagementring.HerewecannotinferthatIhavesucceededin
askingSidneyanything.Nothingshortofcomingoutandsayingitwill
do.Similarly,itmightbecommonknowledgethatmymoribunduncleis
trying,ashebreatheshislast,tobequeathmehisfortune;still,I
won’tinheritapennyifheexpiresbeforesayingwhathewastrying
to.[12]Closer
toSearle’sexample,evenifyouweretofind,onthebasisof
fMRIanalysisofmyneuralactivity,thatIwastryingtotellyou
thatit’sgoingtoraintomorrow,Istillhavenotasserted
anythingabouttomorrow’sweather.(IfIwerecompletely
paralyzedasaresultofLocked-InSyndrome,thenmakingsuchaneural
effortmightbethemostIcanhopetodo;inthatcase,yourfMRI
informationmightbeenoughtojustifyyouintakingmetohave
performedaspeechact.)
Thegistoftheseexamplesisnottherequirementthatwordsbe
utteredineveryspeechact—wehavealreadyobservedthatspeech
actscanbeperformedsilently.Rather,theirgististhatspeechacts
involveintentionalundertakingofapubliclyaccessiblecommitment;
further,thatcommitmentisnotundertakensimplybyvirtueofmy
intendingtoundertakeit,evenwhenitiscommonknowledgethatthis
iswhatIamtryingtodo.Canwe,however,giveamoreilluminating
characterizationoftherelevantintentionsthanmerelysayingthat,
forinstance,toassertPonemustintentionallyput
forthPasanassertion?Strawson(1964)proposesthatwecan
dosowithaidofthenotionofspeakermeaning—towhichwenow
turn.
5.Speaker-MeaningandForce
Aswehaveseen,thatAisanimportantcomponentof
communication,andthatAunderdeterminesB,donot
justifytheconclusionthatBisanimportantcomponentof
communication.Onereasonforanasymmetryinourtreatmentofforce
anddecibellevelisthattheformer,butnotthelatter,seems
crucialtohowImeanwhatIsay.Iintendtospeakatacertain
volume,andsometimessucceed,butinmostcasesitisnopartofhow
ImeanwhatIsaythatIhappentobespeakingatthatvolume.Onthe
otherhand,theforceofmyutteranceisanaspectofwhatImean.It
isnot,aswehaveseen,anyaspectofwhatIsay—thatnotion
beingcloselyassociatedwithcontent.However,whetherImeanwhatI
sayasanassertion,aconjecture,apromiseorsomethingelsewillbe
crucialtohowImeanwhatIdo.
5.1Grice’sAccountofSpeakerMeaning
Inhisinfluential1957article,Grice
distinguishedbetweentwousesof‘mean’.Oneuseis
exemplifiedbyremarkssuchas‘Thosecloudsmeanrain,’
and‘Thosespotsmeanmeasles.’Thenotionofmeaningin
playinsuchcasesGricedubs‘naturalmeaning’.Grice
suggeststhatwemaydistinguishthisuseof‘mean’from
anotheruseofthewordmorerelevanttocommunication,exemplified
insuchutterancesas
Insaying“Youmakeabetterdoorthanawindow”,George
meantthatyoushouldmove,
and
Ingesticulatingthatway,Salvatoremeansthatthere’squicksandover
there,
Griceusedtheterm‘non-naturalmeaning’forthis
useof‘mean’,andinmorerecentliteraturethisjargon
hasbeenreplacedwiththeterm‘speaker
meaning’.[13]
Afterdistinguishingbetweennaturaland
(whatweshallhereaftercall)speakermeaning,Griceattemptsto
characterizethelatter.ItisnotenoughthatIdosomethingthat
influencesthebeliefsofanobserver:InputtingonacoatImight
leadanobservertoconcludethatIamgoingforawalk.Yetinsucha
caseitisnotplausiblethatImeanthatIamgoingforawalkinthe
sensegermanetospeakermeaning.Mightperforminganactionwithan
intentionofinfluencingsomeone’sbeliefsbesufficientforspeaker
meaning?No:ImightsecretlyleaveSmith’shandkerchiefatthecrimesceneto
makethepolicethinkthatSmithistheculprit.However,whetheror
notIamsuccessfulingettingtheauthoritiestothinkthatSmithis
theculprit,inthiscaseitisnotplausiblethatImeanthatSmith
istheculprit.
Whatismissinginthehandkerchiefexampleistheelementof
overtness.Thissuggestsanothercriterion:Performinganactionwith
the,oran,intentionofinfluencingsomeone’sbeliefs,while
intendingthatthisveryintentionberecognized.Gricecontendsthat
evenherewedonothaveenoughforspeakermeaning.Herodpresents
SalomewithSt.John’sseveredheadonacharger,intendingthatshe
discernthatSt.Johnisdeadandintendingthatthisveryintention
ofhisberecognized.GriceobservesthatinsodoingHerodis
nottellingSalomeanything,butisinsteaddeliberatelyand
openlylettingherknowsomething.GriceconcludesthatHerod’saction
isnotacaseofspeakermeaningeither.TheproblemisnotthatHerod
isnotusingwords;wehavealreadyconsideredcommunicatorswhomeanthings
wordlessly.TheproblemseemstobethattoinferwhatHerodintends
herto,Salomedoesnothavetotakehiswordforanything.Shecan
seetheseveredheadforherselfifshecanbringherselftolook.By
contrast,initscentraluses,tellingrequiresaspeakertointendto
conveyinformation(orallegedinformation)inawaythatrelies
cruciallyupontakingheratherword.Griceappearstoassumethatat
leastforthecaseinwhichwhatismeantisaproposition(rather
thanaquestionoranimperative),speakermeaningrequiresatelling
inthiscentralsense.Whatismore,thislastexampleisacaseof
performinganactionwithanintentionofinfluencingsomeone’s
beliefs,evenwhileintendingthatthisveryintentionberecognized;
yetitisnotacaseoftelling.Griceinfersthatitisnotacaseof
speakermeaningeither.
Griceholdsthatforspeakermeaningtooccur,notonlymustone(a)
intendtoproduceaneffectonanaudience,and(b)intendthatthis
veryintentionberecognizedbythataudience,butalso(c)intendthiseffectontheaudiencetobeproducedatleastin
partbytheirrecognitionofthespeaker’sintention.Theintentionto
produceabelieforotherattitudebymeans(atleastinpart)of
recognitionofthisveryintention,hascometobecalled
areflexivecommunicativeintention.
5.2ObjectionstoGrice’sAccount
Itmaybedoubtedthatspeakermeaningrequiresreflexivecommunicativeintentions.Afterall,amathematicsteacherwhoprovesatheoremTforherclasslikelywantsherpupilstobelieveTonthestrengthofherproofratherthantheirrecognitionofherintentionthattheycometobelieveT.(Vlach1981)Itmayevenbedoubtedthatspeakermeaningrequiresintentionstoproducecognitiveeffectsonaddresseesatall:Davis(1992)providesarangeofcasessuchasspeakingtopre-linguisticinfants,uncooperativephotocopymachines,andphotosofdeceasedlovedones.[14],[15]Insteadofintentionstoproducepsychologicaleffectsinanaddressee,someauthorshaveadvocatedaconstrualofspeakermeaningasovertlymanifestinganaspectofone’scommitmentsorstateofmind(Green2019).Comparemygoingtotheclosettotakeoutmyovercoat(nota
caseofspeakermeaning),withthefollowingcase:Afterheatedly
arguingabouttheweather,Imarchtotheclosetwhilebeadilymeeting
yourstare,thenstormoutthefrontdoorwhileostentatiouslydonning
thecoat.HereitismoreplausiblethatImeanthatitisraining
outside,andthereasonseemstobethatIammakingsomeattitudeof
mineovert:Iamnotonlyshowingit,Iammakingclearmyintention
todojustthat.
5.3ForceasanAspectofSpeakerMeaning
Howdoesthisdetourthroughspeakermeaninghelptoelucidatethe
notionofforce?OnewayofassertingthatP,itseems,is
overtlytomanifestmycommitmenttoP,andindeedcommitment
ofaparticularkind:commitmenttodefendPinresponseto
challengesoftheform,“Howdoyouknowthat?”Imust
alsoovertlymanifestmyliabilitytobeeitherrightorwrongonthe
issueofPdependingonwhetherPisthecase.By
contrast,IconjecturePbyovertlymanifestingmycommitment
toPinthissame“liabilitytoerror”way,butI
amnotcommittedtorespondingtochallengesdemandingfull
justification.Imust,however,givesomereasonfor
believingP;thismuchcannot,however,besaidofa
guess.
Weperformaspeechact,then,whenweovertlycommitourselvesina
certainwaytoacontent—wherethatwayisanaspectofhowwe
speaker-meanthatcontent.Onewaytodothatistoinvokea
conventionforundertakingcommitment;anotherwayisovertlyto
manifestone’sintentiontobesocommitted.Wemayelucidatethe
relevantformsofcommitmentbyspellingoutthenormsunderlying
them.Wehavealreadyadumbratedsuchanapproachinourdiscussionof
thedifferencesamongassertingandconjecturing.Developingthat
discussionabitfurther,compare
asserting
conjecturing
guessing
Allthreeoftheseactshaveword-to-worlddirectionoffit,andall
threehaveconditionsofsatisfactionmandatingthattheyare
satisfiedjustincasetheworldisastheircontentsaysit
is.Further,onewhoasserts,conjectures,orguessesthatP
isrightorwrongontheissueofPdependingon
whetherPisinfactso.However,aswemovedownthelistwe
findadecreasingorderofstringencyincommitment.Onewho
assertsPlaysherselfopentothechallenge,“Howdo
youknowthat?”,andsheisobligedtoretractPifshe
isunabletorespondtothatchallengeadequately.Bycontrast,this
challengeisinappropriateforeitheraconjectureoraguess.Onthe
otherhand,wemayjustifiablydemandoftheconjecturerthatshegive
somereasonforherconjecture;yetnoteventhismuchmaybesaidof
onewhomakesaguess.(The“educatedguess”is
intermediatebetweenthesetwocases.)
Thisillocutionarydimensionofspeakermeaning
characterizesnotwhatismeant,butratherhowitismeant.Justas
wemayconsideryourremark,directedtowardme,“You’re
tired,”andmyremark,“I’mtired,”ashavingsaid
thesamethingbutindifferentways;sotoowemayconsidermy
assertionofP,followedbyaretractionandthenfollowedby
aconjectureofP,astwoconsecutivecasesinwhichI
speaker-meanthatPbutdosoindifferentways.Thisidea
willbedevelopedfurtherinSection8undertherubricof
“mode”ofillocutionary
commitment.[16]
Speakermeaning,then,encompassesnotjustcontentbutalsoforce,
andwemayelucidatethisinlightofthenormativestructure
characteristicofeachspeechact:Whenyouovertlydisplaya
commitmentcharacteristicofthatspeechact,youhaveperformedthat
speechact.Isthisanecessaryconditionaswell?Thatdependson
whetherIcanperformaspeechactwithoutintendingtodoso—a
topicforSection9below.Fornow,however,comparetheviewatwhich
wehavearrivedwithSearle’sviewthatoneperformsaspeechactwhen
othersbecomeawareofone’sintentiontoperformthatact.Whatis
missingfromSearle’scharacterizationisthenotionofovertness:The
agentinquestionmustnotonlymakeherintentiontoundertakea
certaincommitmentmanifest;shemustalsointendthatthatvery
intentionbemanifest.Thereismoretoovertnessthanwearingone’s
heart(ormind)onone’ssleeve.
6.Force,Norms,andConversation
Inelucidatingthisnormativedimensionofforce,wehavesoughtto
characterizespeechactsintermsoftheirconversationalroles.That
isnottosaythatspeechactscanonlybeperformedinthesettingof
aconversation:Icanapproachyou,pointoutthatyourvehicleis
blockingmine,andstormoff.HereIhavemadeanassertionbuthave
notengagedinaconversation.PerhapsIcanaskmyselfaquestionin
theprivacyofmystudyandleaveitatthat–notcontinuinginto
aconversationwithmyself.However,aspeechact’s“ecological
niche”mayneverthelessbetheconversation.Inthatspirit,
whilewemaybeabletoremoveaspeechacttypefromitsenvironment
andscrutinizeitinisolatedcaptivity,doingsomayblindustosome
ofitsdistinctivefeatures.
6.1SpeechActsandConversations
Thisecologicalanalogyshedslightonadisputeoverthequestion
whetherspeechactscanprofitablybestudiedinisolationfromthe
conversationsinwhichtheyoccur.Anempiricistframework,
exemplifiedinJohnStuartMill’sASystem
ofLogic,suggestsattemptingtodiscernthemeaningofaword,
forinstanceapropername,inisolation.By
contrast,GottlobFrege(1884)enjoinsusto
understandaword’smeaningintermsofthecontributionitmakesto
anentiresentence.Suchamethodisindispensableforaproper
treatmentofsuchexpressionsasquantifiers,andrepresentsamajor
advanceoverempiricistapproaches.Yetstudentsofspeechactshave
espousedgoingevenfurther,insistingthattheunitofsignificance
isnotthepropositionbutthespeechact.Vandervekenwrites,
Illocutionaryactsareimportantforthepurposeofphilosophical
semanticsbecausetheyaretheprimaryunitsofmeaningintheuseand
comprehensionofnaturallanguage.(Vanderveken,1990,p.1.)
Whynotgoevenfurther,sincespeechactscharacteristicallyoccur
inconversations?Istheunitofsignificancereallythedebate,the
colloquy,theinterrogation?
Studentsofconversationanalysishavecontendedprecisely
this,remarkingthatmanyspeechactsfallnaturallyinto
pairs.[17]For
instance,questionspairnaturallywithassertionswhenthelatter
purporttobeanswerstothosequestions.Likewise,offerspair
naturallywithacceptancesorrejections,anditiseasytomultiply
examples.Searle,whofavorsstudyingspeechactsinisolation,has
repliedtotheseconsiderations(Searle1992).Thereheissuesa
challengetostudentsofconversationtoprovideanaccountof
conversationsparalleltothatofspeechacts,arguingaswellthat
theprospectsforsuchanaccountaredim.Oneofhisreasonsisthat
unlikespeechactsconversationsdonotassuchhaveapointor
purpose.Green1999rejoinsthatmanyconversationsmayindeedbe
construedinteleologicalterms.Forinstance,manyconversationsmay
beconstruedasaimedatansweringaquestion,evenwhenthatquestion
concernssomethingasbanalastheafternoon’sweatherorthe
locationofthenearestsubwaystation.AsherandLascardes(2003)
developasystematictreatmentofspeechactsintheirconversational
settingthatalsorespondstoSearle’schallenge.Additionally,
Roberts(2004,2012)developsamodelofconversationalkinematics
accordingtowhichconversationsareinvariablyaimedatanswering
whatshetermsaquestionunderdiscussion(QUD).Thisview
isbestappreciatedwithintheframeworkofthe“scorekeeping
model”ofconversation,towhichwenowturn.
6.2SpeechActsandScorekeeping
Muchliteratureconcernedwithspeechactsiscuriouslydisconnected
fromresearchinthesemanticsofnaturallanguageemphasizing
pragmaticfactors.Forinstance,Stalnaker(1972,1973,1974),Lewis
(1979,1980),Thomason(1990)andothershavedevelopedmodelsofthe
kinematicsofconversationsaimedatunderstandingtheroleof
quantification,presupposition(bothsemanticandpragmatic),
anaphora,deixis,andvaguenessindiscourse.Suchmodelstypically
construeconversationsasinvolvinganever-developingsetof
Propositionsthatcanbepresupposedbyinterlocutors.Thissetof
Propositionsistheconversationalcommonground,definedas
thatsetofPropositionsthatallinterlocutorstaketobetrue,while
alsotakingitthatallotherinterlocutorstakethemtobetrue.Ifa
Propositionpisinaconversation’scommonground,thenaspeakermay
felicitouslypresupposep’struth.Supposethenthatthe
PropositionthatSingaporehasauniqueKingisina
conversation’scommongroundatgivenpoint;thenaspeakermay
felicitouslyutterasentencesuchas‘ThepresentKingof
Singaporeiswise,’or‘Singapore’skingis
sleeping’.Otherparameterscharacterizingaconversationata
givenpointincludethedomainofdiscourse,asetofsalient
perceptibleobjects,standardsofprecision,time,worldorsituation,
speaker,andaddressee.Thesetofallvaluesfortheseitemsata
givenconversationalmomentisoftenreferredtoas
“conversationalscore”.
“Scorekeeping”approachestolanguageusetypically
construeacontributiontoaconversationasaProposition:Ifthat
“assertion”isaccepted,thenthescoreisupdatedby
havingthePropositionenteredintocommonground.Inthisspirit,
MacFarlane(2011)considersanaccountofthespeechactofassertion
intermsanutterance’scapacitytoupdateconversationalscore.Such
anapproachwill,however,faceadifficultyinexplaininghowtwo
speechactswiththesamecontent,suchasanassertionthattheMilky
Waycontainsablackhole,andaconjecturethatitdoes,willmake
differentconversationalcontributions.Anenrichmentofthe
scorekeepingmodelwouldincludesensitivitytodifferencessuchas
these.
Anotherdevelopmentinthescorekeepingmodelrefinestheteleological
pictureadumbratedabovetoincorporateQuestions,construed(along
thelinesofSection2.1)assetsofPropositions.Whenan
interlocutorproffersanassertionthatisnotmetwithobjectionsby
othersintheconversation,thePropositionalcontentofthat
illocutionwillenterintocommonground.Whenaninterlocutorposesa
questionthatisacceptedbyothers,wemayrepresentthechangeasan
additiontoCommonGroundofthesetofpropositionsthatisthe
Interrogativecontentofthatillocution.Thepresenceofthat
Interrogativeobligesinterlocutorstoworktoruleallbutone
PropositionthatisacompleteanswertotheInterrogative.Because
Interrogativesstandininferentialrelationstooneanother(Q1
entailsQ2justincaseanyanswertoQ1isananswertoQ2),one
strategyforansweringaquestionistodivideitintotractable
questionsthatitentails:‘Howmanycoveredbridgesarethere
inJapan?’canbeansweredbyansweringthatquestionforeach
ofthatcountry’s47prefectures.Roberts(2004,2012)develops
theQuestionUnderDiscussionmodelofconversationaldynamics
accordingtowhichcommongroundcontainsapartiallyorderedsetof
InterrogativesinadditiontoasetofPropositions.Thisteleological
approachtoconversationbidsfairtoenrichourunderstandingofthe
relationsofspeechactstoothercentraltopicswithinpragmatics
suchaspresuppositionand
implicature.[18]
7.Force-IndicatorsandtheLogicallyPerfectLanguage
Frege’sBegriffsschrift(1879)constituteshistory’sfirst
thoroughgoingattempttoformulatearigorousformalsysteminwhich
tocarryoutdeductivereasoning.However,Fregedidnotseehis
Begriffsschriftasmerelyatoolforassessingthevalidityof
arguments.Rather,heappearstohaveseenitasanorganonforthe
acquisitionofknowledgefromunquestionablefirstprinciples;in
additionhewantedtouseitinordertohelpmakecleartheepistemic
foundationsonwhichourknowledgerests.Tothisendhisformal
systemcontainsnotonlysymbolsindicatingthecontentof
propositions(includinglogicalconstants),butalsosymbols
indicatingtheforcewithwhichtheyareputforth.Inparticular,
Fregeinsiststhatwhenusinghisformalsystemtoacquirenew
knowledgefrompropositionsalreadyknown,weuseanassertionsignto
indicateouracknowledgmentofthetruthofthepropositionusedas
axiomsorinferredtherefrom.Fregethusemployswhatwouldnowbe
calledaforceindicator:anexpressionwhoseuseindicates
theforcewithwhichanassociatedpropositionisbeingputforth
(Green2002).
ReichenbachexpandsuponFrege’sideainhis1947.Inadditionto
usinganassertionsign,Reichenbachalsousesindicatorsof
interrogativeandimperativalforce.Haresimilarlyintroducesforce
indicatorstolaybarethewayinwhichethicalandcognateutterances
aremade(Hare1970).Davidson(1979),however,challengesthevalue
ofthisentireenterpriseofintroducingforce-indicatingdevicesinto
languages,formalorotherwise.Davidson’sreasonisthatsince
naturallanguagealreadycontainsmanydevicesforindicatingthe
forceofone’sspeechact,theonlyinterestaforceindicatorcould
havewouldbeifitcouldguaranteetheforceofone’sspeechact.But
nothingcoulddothis:Anydevicepurportingtobe,say,aninfallible
indicatorofassertoricforceisliabletobeingusedbyajokeror
actortoheightentherealismoftheirperformance.Referringtothe
putativeforce-indicatingdeviceasa‘strengthenedmood,’
hewrites,
Itisapparentthatmerelyspeakingthesentenceinthestrengthened
moodcannotbecountedontoresultinanassertion:everyjoker,
storyteller,andactorwillimmediatelytakeadvantageofthe
strengthenedmoodtosimulateassertion.Thereisnopoint,then,in
thestrengthenedmood;theavailableindicativedoesaswellas
languagecandointheserviceofassertion(Davidson1979,p.311).
Hare1989repliesthattherecouldbeasocietywithaconventionthatutterance
ofacertainexpressionconstitutedperformanceofacertain
illocutionaryact,eventhoseutterancesthatoccuronstageoras
usedbyjokersorstorytellers.Green1997questionstherelevanceofthisobservationtoasserting,whichaswehaveseen,whichaswehave
seen,seemtorequireintentionsfortheirperformance.Justasno
conventioncouldmakeitthecasethatIbelievethatP,so
toonoconventioncouldmakeitthecasethatIintendtoputfortha
certainsentenceasanassertion.
Ontheotherhand,Green1997andGreen2000alsoobservethatevenif
therecanbenoforceindicatorinthesenseDavidsoncriticizes,
nothingpreventsnaturallanguagefromcontainingdevicesthat
indicateforceconditionaluponone’sperformingaspeechact:sucha
forceindicatorwouldnotshowwhetheroneisperforminga
speechact,but,giventhatoneisdoingso,itwould
showwhichspeechactoneisperforming.Forinstance,
parentheticalexpressionssuchas,‘asisthecase’can
occurintheantecedentofconditionals,asin:‘If,asisthe
case,theglobeiswarming,thenAntarcticawillmelt.’Useof
theparentheticalcannotguaranteethatthesentenceoranypartofit
isbeingasserted,butiftheentiresentenceisbeingasserted,then,
Greenclaims,useoftheparentheticalguaranteesthatthespeakeris
alsocommittedtothecontentoftheantecedent.Ifthisclaimis
correct,naturallanguagealreadycontainsforceindicatorsinthis
qualifiedsense.Whetheritisworthintroducingsuchforceindicators
intoalogicalnotationremainsanopenquestion.
SubsequenttoAustin’sintroductionofthenotionofa
performative,ithasalsobeensuggestedthatwhatwemightcall
performativesententialframesbehavelikeforceindicators:‘I
claimthatitissunny,’seemstobeaprolixwayofsayingthat
itissunny,wherethe‘Iclaim’seemsonlytoindicate
howwhatfollowsistobetaken.OntheapproachofUrmson(1952),for
instance,suchasentenceshouldbeunderstoodonthemodelof
‘Itissunny,Iclaim.’Supportforsuchananalysismay
befoundinthefactthatapotentialreplytothat
utteranceis‘Noitisn’t;it’spouring
outside!’,while‘Noyoudon’t’isnot.Again,ifthespeakerdoesnotbelieveitissunnyoutside,shecannotdodge,shecannotdodge
theaccusationoflyingbyremarkingthatwhatshehadassertedwas
thatsheclaimedthatitissunny,andnotanythingaboutthe
weather.
Nonetheless,drawingonCohen1964,Lycan2018objectstotheview
thatsuchperformativeframesmakenocontributiontosentenceor
utterancemeaning.IfMarissafelicitouslyutters,‘Iclaimthat
itissunny,’whileAbdulfelicitouslyutters,‘I
conjecturethatitissunny,’theviewimpliesthattheir
utterancesmeanthesame.Thetwospeakershaveclearlysaiddifferent
things,however.Ontheotherhand,ifweholdthattheperformative
framedoescontributetothecontentofwhatMarissaandAbdulsaid,
then,Lycanpointsout,itwillbedifficulttoexplainhowtheir
utterancescommiteitherofthemtoanypositionabouttheweather.It
evidentlywon’tdotopositinferencerulessuchas‘Istate
thatp,‘ergo,‘p’.Wewill
considerasolutiontowhatLycanterms“Cohen’sProblem”
afterdevelopinganotionofillocutionaryinferenceinthenext
section.
8.DoSpeechActsHaveaLogic?
Studentsofspeechactscontend,aswehaveseen,thattheunitof
communicativesignificanceistheIllocutionratherthanthe
Proposition.Thisattitudepromptsthequestionwhetherlogicitself
mightbeenrichedbyincorporatinginferentialrelationsamongspeech
actsratherthanjustinferentialrelationsamongPropositions.
Justastwoevent-typesE1andE2(suchasrunning
quicklyandrunning)couldbelogicallyrelatedtooneanotherinthat
itisnotpossibleforonetooccurwithouttheother;sotoospeech
acttypesS1andS2couldbe
inferentiallyrelatedtooneanotherifitisnotpossibletoperform
onewithoutperformingtheother.Awarningthatthebullisaboutto
chargeisalsoanassertionthatthebullisabouttochargebutthe
converseisnottrue.Thisisinspiteofthefactthatthesetwo
speechactshavethesamepropositionalcontent:Thatthebullis
abouttocharge.If,therefore,warningimpliesassertingbutnotvice
versa,thenthatinferentialrelationisnottobecaughtwithinthe
netofinferentialrelationsamongpropositions.
IntheirFoundationsofIllocutionaryLogic(1985),Searle
andVandervekenattemptageneraltreatmentoflogicalrelationsamong
speechacts.Theydescribetheircentralquestionintermsof
commitment:
Atheoryofillocutionarylogicofthesortwearedescribingis
essentiallyatheoryofillocutionarycommitmentasdeterminedby
illocutionaryforce.Thesinglemostimportantquestionitmustanswer
isthis:Giventhataspeakerinacertaincontextofutterance
performsasuccessfulillocutionaryactofacertainform,whatother
illocutionsdoestheperformanceofthatactcommithimto?(1985,
p.6)
Toexplicatetheirnotionofillocutionarycommitment,these
authorsinvoketheirdefinitionofillocutionaryforceintermsofthe
sevenvaluesmentionedinSection2.3above.Onthebasisofthis
definition,theydefinetwonotionspertinenttoentailmentrelations
amongspeechacts,namelystrongillocutionarycommitment
andweakillocutionarycommitment.Accordingtotheformer
definition,anillocutionaryactS1commitsa
speakertoanotherillocutionaryactS2iffitis
notpossibletoperformS1without
performingS2.Whetherthatrelationholdsbetween
apairofillocutionaryactsdependsontheparticularseptupleswith
whichtheyareidentified.ThussupposethatS1is
identicalwith(correspondingtoillocutionarypoint,
strength,modeofachievement,propositionalcontent,preparatory
condition,sinceritycondition,andstrengthofsinceritycondition,
respectively);andsupposethatS2isidentical
with.SupposefurtherthatStr1and
Str2differonlyinthat1isstrongerthan2.Thenitwill
notbepossibletoperformS1without
performingS2;whencetheformerstrongly
illocutionarilyimpliesthelatter.(Thisdefinitionofstrong
illocutionarycommitmentgeneralizesinastraightforwardwaytothe
caseinwhichasetofspeechactsS1,
…,Sn−1impliesaspeech
actSn.)
SearleandVandervekenalsodefineanotionofweakillocutionary
commitmentsuchthatS1weaklyillocutionarily
impliesS2iffeveryperformance
ofS1commitsanagenttomeetingtheconditions
laiddownintheseptupleidenticaltoS2(1985,
p.24).SearleandVandervekeninferthatthisimpliesthat
ifPlogicallyentailsQ,andanagent
assertsP,thensheiscommittedtobelieving
thatQ.Theseauthorsstress,however,thatthisdoesnot
meanthattheagentwhoassertsPiscommitted
tocultivatingthebeliefQwhenP
impliesQ.Inlieuofthatexplication,however,itis
unclearjustwhatnotionofcommitmentisatissue.Itisunclear,for
instance,whatitcouldmeantobecommittedtobelievingQ
(ratherthanjustbeingcommittedtoQ)ifthisisnottobe
explicatedasbeingcommittedtocultivatingthebelief
thatQ.
Otherapproachesattempttocircumventsuchproblemsbyreductively
definingthenotionofcommitmentintermsofobligationstoaction
andliabilitytoerrorand/orvindication.Performanceofaspeechact
orsetofspeechactscancommitanagenttoadistinctcontent,and
dosorelativetosomeforce.IfPandQjointly
implyR,thenmyassertingbothPandQ
commitsmetoR.ThatisnottosaythatIhavealso
assertedR:ifassertionwereclosedunderdeductive
consequenceIwouldassertinfinitelymanythingsjustbyvirtueof
assertingone.Bycontrast,ifIconjecturePandQ,
thenIamonceagaincommittedtoRbutnotinthewaythatI
wouldhavebeenhadIassertedPandQ.For
instance,intheassertioncase,oncemyfurthercommitmenttoRis
madeclear,itiswithintherightsofmyaddresseetoaskhowIknow
thatRholds;thiswouldnothavebeenanacceptablereplytomy
merelyconjecturingPandQ.Developingthistheme,
letSbeanarbitraryspeaker,
asequenceofforce/contentpairs;then:
isillocutionarilyvalidiffifspeakerSis
committedtoeachAiundermode
Δi,thenSiscommitted
toBundermode
Δ.[19]
Becauseitconcernswhatforce/contentpairscommitanagentto
whatothers,illocutionaryvalidityisanessentiallydeonticnotion:
Itwillbecashedoutintermseitherofobligationtouseacontent
inacertainwayconversationally,orliabilitytoerroror
vindicationdependinguponhowtheworldis.
Ourdiscussionofthepossibilityofanillocutionarylogicanswers
onequestionposedattheendofSection6.3,namelywhetheritis
possibletoperformaspeechactwithoutintendingtodoso.This
seemslikelygivenSearleandVanderveken’sdefinitionofstrong
illocutionarycommitment:Weneedonlyimagineanagentperforming
somelargenumberofspeechacts,S1,
…,Sn−1,which,unbeknownstto
her,jointlyguaranteethatshefulfillsthesevenconditionsdefining
anotherspeechactSn.Eveninsuchacaseshe
performsSnonlybyvirtueofintentionally
performingsomeothersetofspeechactsS1,
…,Sn−1;itisdifficulttosee
howonecanperformSnwhilehavingnointention
ofperformingaspeechactatall.
WearealsoinapositiontomakeheadwayonCohen’sProblemas
formulatedbyLycan.AsarguedinGreen2000,inanassertionof
‘I(hereby)assertthatp’,aspeakercommits
herselftopeventhoughherwordsdonotlogicallyentailthat
Proposition;nordotheypresuppose,oreitherconversationallyor
conventionallyimplyit.Theydo,however,illocutionarilyentailit:
anyonecommittedto‘Iassertthatp’
assertoricallyistherebycommittedtopassertorically.By
contrast,onecommittedto‘Iassertthatp’asa
suppositionforthesakeofargumentisnottherebycommitted
top.Accordingly,suchaphraseas‘Iassertthat’
issemanticallyopaque(makinganon-trivialcontributiontothetruth
conditionsofthesentencesinwhichitoccurs)butpragmatically
transparentinthesensethataspeakerwhoundertakesassertoric
commitmenttoasentenceinwhichithaswidestscopeisalso
assertoricallycommittedtoitscomplement.Analogousremarksapplyto
‘Iconjecturethat’andthelike.
9.SpeechActsandSocialIssues
Inaparadigmaticillocutionaryevent,aspeakerhasachoiceofwhich
ifanyspeechacttoperformandheraddresseewilldohercharitable
besttodiscernthatspeaker’sintentionsand,wherenecessary,which
conventionsshemaybeinvoking.Pratt(1986)observesthatthis
paradigmisnottruetothefactsofmanyareasofcommunicative
life,writing
Anaccountoflinguisticinteractionbasedontheideaofexchange
glossesovertheverybasicfactsthat,toputitcrudely,somepeople
gettodomoretalkingthanothers,somearesupposedtodomore
listening,andnoteverybody’swordsareworththesame.(1986,p.68)
AlthoughPrattintendsthisremarkasacritiqueofspeechact
theory,italsosuggestsawayinwhichthistheorymightshedlight
onsubtleformsofoppression.WesawinSection2.2thataputative
betcanmisfireifitisnotaccepted.Insuchacasethespeaker
attemptstobetbutfailsinthateffortduetoalackofaudience
uptake.Sotoo,apersonmaynotbeinthecorrectsocialpositionto,say,excommunicateorappoint,andherattemptstoperformsuchillocutionswillmisfire.Moremomentously,apatternofabuses
ofspeechactinstitutionsmightdepriveapersonofanabilityto
performspeechacts:theinveteratepromise-breakerwill,intime,leadothers
inhiscommunitytobeunwillingtoacceptanypromiseshetriesto
make.Hecanperformcountlesslocutionaryactsbutwillbeunableto
performtheillocutionaryactofpromising,atleastinthis
community.
Apatternofculpablebehaviorcouldmakeaspeakerunabletoperformonespeechacttype.Couldapatternofculpable
behavior–intentionalorinadvertent—onthepartofothers
inaspeaker’scommunityachievethesameeffect?Thiscouldhappenifenoughsuchspeakersdecidenever
toacceptoneperson’sbets,warnings,orpromises.Beyondsuch
hypotheticalcases,ithasbeenarguedthatpatternsofsocial
inequalitycanpreventmembersofcertaingroupsfromperformingthespeechactstheywouldchooseto.Buildingonandrefining
McKinnon’s(1993)claimthatpornographysilenceswomen,Langton
(1993),andHornsbyandLangton(1998)arguethattheindustryand
consumptionofpornographydeprivewomenoftheabilitytoperformthe
speechactofrefusingsexualadvances.Refusingisaspeechact,but
iflargeenoughnumbersofmendenyuptake(withsuchthoughtsas,
“By‘no’shereallymeans‘yes’,”
etc.)then,theseauthorsargue,women’sattemptstorefusesexual
advanceswillbecharacteristicallyinertwithrespecttothespeech
actofrefusal.Womenwillstillbeabletoattempttorefusesexual
advances,andcanstilltrytopreventthembyphysicalmeans,buta
crucialillocutionaryformofprotectionwillbeclosedtothem.So
too,apartheid,JimCrow,andevenpatternsofdiscriminationofwhich
theperpetratorsarenotconsciouslyaware,candepriveracial,
religious,andethnicminoritygroupsoftheabilitytoperform
speech-acttypesrequiringuptake.Thesephenomenaaregenerally
referredtoasillocutionarysilencing.
Bird(2002)deniesthatthespeechactofrefusalrequires
uptake.Suchanillocutionis,hecontends,likeinvitingand
surrendering,whichcanoccurwhetherornottheirintendedaudiences
grasporaccepttheprofferedillocutions.Similarlydenyingthatthe
“silencing”argumentshouldbecastintermsofspeech
acts,Maitra2009arguesthattheinstitutionofpornographyprevents
speaker-meantinstancesofrefusalfrombeingunderstood.Onecan
speaker-meanthatsherefuses,forinstance,butpatternsofcognitive
andaffectiveresponsewillsystematicallypreventthatrefusalfrom
beinggrasped.Broadeningthescopeofinvestigationsofthe
interactionofinjusticeandillocutionaryphenomena,McGowan2009
arguesthatsomespeechactscannotonlycausebutalsoconstitute
instancesofoppression.Anderson,HaslangerandLangton(2012)provideoverviewsofresearchonracial,gender
andrelatedformsofoppressionastheyrelatetospeechacts.
Althoughnotinherentlyculpable,thepracticeofdogwhistlinghas
alsorecentlygainedtheinterestoftheoristsofspeechacts.As
suggestedbythemetaphor,anagentdogwhistlesjustincaseoneor
moredimensionsofaspeechactsheperformsisreadilyintelligible
onlytoapropersubsetofheraddressees.Saul2018notesthatin
contemporaryAmericanpolitics,statingone’soppositiontothe
SupremeCourtcaseofDredScottseemstobeawayofsignalingone’s
anti-abortionsympathies.Forthosenotintheknow,however,a
speaker’soppositiontotheDredScottappearstobean
uncontroversialactofrejectingracism.Thephenomenonof
dogwhistlingprovidesanapparentchallengetoconceptionsofspeaker
meaningintermsofovertness,sincethedogwhistlerwouldseemto
speakermeanacontentthatiscryptictoallbutherinsider
audience:isherutterancebothovertandcovert?Insteadofadopting
suchaview,onewhoconstruesspeechactsintermsofovertnesscould
refinethenotionofmanifestnessoccuringinheraccount.Whatis
manifesttooneaddresseemaynotbemanifesttoanother,anda
speakermayexploitthisfact.Accordingly,someonewhoavows,“I’m
againstDredScott,”mayspeaker-meanthatsheisbothagainstDred
Scottandpro-lifetoonepartofheraudience,butonlythatsheis
againstDredScotttoanotherpart.
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