Episode 186: J.L. Austin on Doing Things with Words (Part One)
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Mark Linsenmayer
4.6 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2018
⏱️ 46 minutes
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Summary
On How to Do Things with Words (lectures from 1955). What's the relationship between language and the world? Austin says it's not all about descriptive true-or-false statements, but also includes "performatives" like "I promise…" and "I do" (spoken in a wedding) that are actions unto themselves. They can't be true or false, but they can be "unhappy" if social conventions aren't fulfilled (e.g., you try to marry a pig). Austin thinks performatives will change your whole view of language and of linguistically expressed philosophical problems!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Partially examine life relies on your support. |
| 0:02.2 | To find out how to help, in ways that are cheap or even free for you, |
| 0:05.5 | check out partiallyexaminedlife.com slash support. |
| 0:08.3 | [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ |
| 0:16.0 | You're listening to the Partially examined life, a podcast by some guys |
| 0:19.2 | who are at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. |
| 0:22.8 | Our question for episode 186 is something like, |
| 0:26.4 | what's the relationship between language and the world? |
| 0:28.9 | And we read Jail Austin's How to Do Things with Words based on lectures he gave in 1955. |
| 0:34.2 | For more information, please check out partiallyexaminedlife.com. |
| 0:37.4 | This is Mark Linson-Mirer, welcoming you all to the podcast, |
| 0:40.6 | but infolicitously because you are a horse in Madison, Wisconsin. |
| 0:44.3 | [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ |
| 0:46.9 | This is Seth Pascon. |
| 0:48.6 | Ilok Hussinarily Yours in Austin, Texas. |
| 0:51.8 | This is Wes Alman hereby appearing on the podcast from Cambridge Messages. |
| 0:57.8 | This is Dylan Casey, essentially asymmetric in Middleton, Wisconsin. |
| 1:02.1 | So those will be, especially bewildering to people? |
| 1:04.6 | [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ |
| 1:07.5 | I am the one who actually used to perform it in my introduction. |
| 1:11.1 | You are. |
| 1:11.8 | I tried. I welcome you. |
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