Guy Longworth on J.L. Austin and Ordinary Language

Philosophy Bites

Nigel Warburton

Education, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2012

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

J. L. Austin, who died in 1960, was an immensely influential philosopher whose method involved precise scrutiny of ordinary language: the precise words, the contexts in which they were uttered, and what people were doing by uttering them. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Guy Longworth discusses the key features of Austin's approach. Philosophy Bites is made in associaton with the Institute of Philosophy.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is made in philosophy bites with me David Edmonds and me Nigel Warburton.
0:06.0	Philosophy bites is available at www
0:09.0	philosophy bites.com.
0:11.0	Philosophy bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy.
0:15.0	In the 1950s, one charismatic figure dominated Oxford philosophy,
0:20.0	and since Oxford was then the centre of the philosophical world, his influence spread far and wide.
0:26.0	He championed what was called ordinary language philosophy.
0:29.0	He believed that philosophers should study the infinite subtleties and nuances of language
0:34.1	and that this would help us make progress with perennial philosophical questions like
0:38.5	what can I know? He published very little and after his death in 1960 was largely forgotten.
0:45.0	His name was Austin, J L Austin, and Guy Longworth of Warwick University
0:50.0	believes he has much to teacher still.
0:53.0	Guy Longworth, welcome to Plus 3 Bites.
0:55.0	Thanks for having me.
0:57.0	The topic we're going to focus on is J.L. Austin and ordinary language.
1:01.0	Who was J.Lostin? Well,
1:03.1	Austin was an important figure immediately after the Second World War in
1:07.4	Oxford philosophy in particular. He spent a large part of the war
1:11.0	working for British military intelligence and he was influential in our
1:15.2	ultimate success in the Second World War.
1:17.8	Now Austin isn't the best known philosopher today by some long chalk but in his day in Oxford he was a major figure, wasn't he?
1:25.9	He was dominant in Oxford.
	...

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