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The Philosophy of Jürgen Habermas: A Critical Introduction
Uwe Steinhoff
Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
Jürgen Habermas seeks to defend the Enlightenment and with it an "emphatical", "uncurtailed" conception of reason against the post-modern critique of reason on the one hand, and against so-called ... More
Jürgen Habermas seeks to defend the Enlightenment and with it an "emphatical", "uncurtailed" conception of reason against the post-modern critique of reason on the one hand, and against so-called scientism (which would include critical rationalism and the greater part of analytical philosophy) on the other. His objection to the former is that it is self-contradictory and politically defeatist; his objection to the latter is that, thanks to a standard of rationality derived from the natural sciences or from Weber's concept of purposive rationality, it leaves normative questions to irrational decisions. Wishing to offer an alternative, Habermas tries to develop a theory of communicative action that can clarify the normative foundations of a critical theory of society as well as provide a fruitful theoretical framework for empirical social research. This study is a comprehensive and detailed analysis and a sustained critique of Habermas' philosophical system starting with his pragmatist turn in the seventies. It clearly and precisely depicts its long path from an analysis of speech acts to a discourse theory of law and the democratic constitutional state via the theory of communicative action, discourse ethics, and the attempts to apply the approach to, and support it with, empirical theories.Less
The Philosophy of Jürgen Habermas : A Critical Introduction
Jürgen Habermas seeks to defend the Enlightenment and with it an "emphatical", "uncurtailed" conception of reason against the post-modern critique of reason on the one hand, and against so-called scientism (which would include critical rationalism and the greater part of analytical philosophy) on the other. His objection to the former is that it is self-contradictory and politically defeatist; his objection to the latter is that, thanks to a standard of rationality derived from the natural sciences or from Weber's concept of purposive rationality, it leaves normative questions to irrational decisions. Wishing to offer an alternative, Habermas tries to develop a theory of communicative action that can clarify the normative foundations of a critical theory of society as well as provide a fruitful theoretical framework for empirical social research. This study is a comprehensive and detailed analysis and a sustained critique of Habermas' philosophical system starting with his pragmatist turn in the seventies. It clearly and precisely depicts its long path from an analysis of speech acts to a discourse theory of law and the democratic constitutional state via the theory of communicative action, discourse ethics, and the attempts to apply the approach to, and support it with, empirical theories.
Keywords: communicative action, critical theory, democracy, discourse ethics, Enlightenment, Jürgen Habermas, law, rationality, reason, speech acts
Making Rights Claims: A Practice of Democratic Citizenship
Karen Zivi
Political Science, Political Theory, Democratization
Despite the global popularity of rights language, nagging suspicions remain about the compatibility between the practice of rights claiming and democracy. Does rights claiming advances democratic ... More
Despite the global popularity of rights language, nagging suspicions remain about the compatibility between the practice of rights claiming and democracy. Does rights claiming advances democratic freedom and equality or does it undermine participatory practices while reinforcing dominant forms of power? Should marginalized individuals and groups make rights claims to challenge oppression and injustice or should they seek an alternative language and form of political contestation? Making Rights Claims provides a unique entrée into these important and timely questions. Rather than simply taking a side in the debates for or against rights claiming, Zivi argues that we first need to understand the relationship between rights and democracy anew. Combining insights from speech act theory with recent developments in democratic and feminist thought, she develops a theory of the performativity of rights claiming and argues that if we understand and study rights claims as speech acts that create the world they seem to represent, we will see that it is through rights claiming, that we constitute and reconstitute ourselves as democratic citizens, shape our communities, and transform constraining categories of identity in ways that may simultaneously advance and challenge aspects of democracy.Less
Making Rights Claims : A Practice of Democratic Citizenship
Despite the global popularity of rights language, nagging suspicions remain about the compatibility between the practice of rights claiming and democracy. Does rights claiming advances democratic freedom and equality or does it undermine participatory practices while reinforcing dominant forms of power? Should marginalized individuals and groups make rights claims to challenge oppression and injustice or should they seek an alternative language and form of political contestation? Making Rights Claims provides a unique entrée into these important and timely questions. Rather than simply taking a side in the debates for or against rights claiming, Zivi argues that we first need to understand the relationship between rights and democracy anew. Combining insights from speech act theory with recent developments in democratic and feminist thought, she develops a theory of the performativity of rights claiming and argues that if we understand and study rights claims as speech acts that create the world they seem to represent, we will see that it is through rights claiming, that we constitute and reconstitute ourselves as democratic citizens, shape our communities, and transform constraining categories of identity in ways that may simultaneously advance and challenge aspects of democracy.
Keywords: rights, democracy, performativity, speech acts, identity, citizenship
Speech acts: socially binding force
Pieter A. M. Seuren
in Language in Cognition
Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
The late emergence of speech‐act theory is sketched. The primary function of language is claimed to be the establishment of socially binding commitments with regard to a proposition. The concept of ... More
The late emergence of speech‐act theory is sketched. The primary function of language is claimed to be the establishment of socially binding commitments with regard to a proposition. The concept of liability condition, next to truth condition, is introduced. All forms of sign‐giving stand under a socially binding force operator. Arguments are provided to show the linguistic reality of speech‐act operators.Less
The late emergence of speech‐act theory is sketched. The primary function of language is claimed to be the establishment of socially binding commitments with regard to a proposition. The concept of liability condition, next to truth condition, is introduced. All forms of sign‐giving stand under a socially binding force operator. Arguments are provided to show the linguistic reality of speech‐act operators.
Keywords: Austin, liability conditions, performative hypothesis, social binding, the social reality of obligations, speech act
Mitchell S. Green
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language
This book offers a general theory of expressive behavior, including but not limited to such behavior as it occurs in our own species. At the core of the project is the thesis that self-expression is ... More
This book offers a general theory of expressive behavior, including but not limited to such behavior as it occurs in our own species. At the core of the project is the thesis that self-expression is a matter of showing a cognitive, affective, or qualitative state in such a way that the showing is a product of design. Design may be the result of conscious intention, natural selection, artificial selection, or convention. Showing comes in three forms: showing that something is so, showing something in such a way as to make it perceptible, and showing how an object appears or how an experience or affect feels. This elucidation of self-expression as designed showing of something inner sheds light on such issues as the distinction between saying and showing, the nature of speaker meaning, speech acts, the problem of other minds, implicature, the psychology and evolutionary biology of facial expression, idiosyncratic and conventional aspects of expressive behavior, empathy, qualia, and artistic expression, particularly expression in music. The work blends insights from evolutionary game theory, ethology, experimental psychology, neuroscience, pragmatics, and the philosophies of mind and language.Less
This book offers a general theory of expressive behavior, including but not limited to such behavior as it occurs in our own species. At the core of the project is the thesis that self-expression is a matter of showing a cognitive, affective, or qualitative state in such a way that the showing is a product of design. Design may be the result of conscious intention, natural selection, artificial selection, or convention. Showing comes in three forms: showing that something is so, showing something in such a way as to make it perceptible, and showing how an object appears or how an experience or affect feels. This elucidation of self-expression as designed showing of something inner sheds light on such issues as the distinction between saying and showing, the nature of speaker meaning, speech acts, the problem of other minds, implicature, the psychology and evolutionary biology of facial expression, idiosyncratic and conventional aspects of expressive behavior, empathy, qualia, and artistic expression, particularly expression in music. The work blends insights from evolutionary game theory, ethology, experimental psychology, neuroscience, pragmatics, and the philosophies of mind and language.
Keywords: speaker meaning, speech acts, theory of mind, implicature, facial expression, empathy, qualia, artistic expression, musical expression, evolutionary game theory
A Divide‐and‐Conquer Strategy
Robert J. Stainton
in Words and Thoughts: Subsentences, Ellipsis, and the Philosophy of Language
Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
There are two obvious kinds of manoeuvres for rejecting the existence of full-fledged non-sentential speech acts, thereby avoiding the implications canvassed briefly in Chapter 1. The first is to ... More
There are two obvious kinds of manoeuvres for rejecting the existence of full-fledged non-sentential speech acts, thereby avoiding the implications canvassed briefly in Chapter 1. The first is to deny that there are full-fledged speech acts performed at all. The second obvious kind of manoeuvre is to deny that the examples are truly non-sentential, alleging instead that every apparently sub-sentential speech act is actually an utterance of some kind of sentence. Jason Stanley points out that one must consider a 'divide-and-conquer' strategy, explaining away some cases as underlyingly sentential and other cases as not full-fledged speech acts. This chapter aims to rebut this 'divide-and-conquer' strategy.Less
There are two obvious kinds of manoeuvres for rejecting the existence of full-fledged non-sentential speech acts, thereby avoiding the implications canvassed briefly in Chapter 1. The first is to deny that there are full-fledged speech acts performed at all. The second obvious kind of manoeuvre is to deny that the examples are truly non-sentential, alleging instead that every apparently sub-sentential speech act is actually an utterance of some kind of sentence. Jason Stanley points out that one must consider a 'divide-and-conquer' strategy, explaining away some cases as underlyingly sentential and other cases as not full-fledged speech acts. This chapter aims to rebut this 'divide-and-conquer' strategy.
Keywords: non-sentential speech, sub-sentential speech, speech acts, Jason Stanley
Sentences, Assertion, and the Semantics–Pragmatics Boundary
This chapter focuses on the speech act of assertion. In the first section, it considers whether what makes something an assertion is a matter of semantics — where, in this context, 'semantic' is used ... More
This chapter focuses on the speech act of assertion. In the first section, it considers whether what makes something an assertion is a matter of semantics — where, in this context, 'semantic' is used in the sense of being a matter of linguistic convention. In the second section, it considers the determinants of asserted content, and whether they are semantic (in a different, specialized sense, to be explained). Specifically, it asks, given that an action is an assertion, whether its specific content can be fixed solely on the basis of its form/content together with certain antecedently settled referents for context sensitive items. The answer is that whether we have an assertion at all, and if so what its content is, has rather more to do with pragmatics than has often been assumed.Less
This chapter focuses on the speech act of assertion. In the first section, it considers whether what makes something an assertion is a matter of semantics — where, in this context, 'semantic' is used in the sense of being a matter of linguistic convention. In the second section, it considers the determinants of asserted content, and whether they are semantic (in a different, specialized sense, to be explained). Specifically, it asks, given that an action is an assertion, whether its specific content can be fixed solely on the basis of its form/content together with certain antecedently settled referents for context sensitive items. The answer is that whether we have an assertion at all, and if so what its content is, has rather more to do with pragmatics than has often been assumed.
Keywords: speech act, assertion, pragmatics, semantics
On 'Whites Only' Signs and Racist Hate Speech: Verbal Acts of Racial Discrimination 1
Mary Kate McGowan
in Speech and Harm: Controversies Over Free Speech
Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
In this chapter, it is argued that some instances of racist hate speech are speech acts that constitute illegal acts of racial discrimination. By identifying a previously overlooked mechanism by ... More
In this chapter, it is argued that some instances of racist hate speech are speech acts that constitute illegal acts of racial discrimination. By identifying a previously overlooked mechanism by which utterances enact norms (the covert exercitive), one comes to see that some racist hate speech enacts discriminatory norms in public places. Such speech thus acts very similarly to 'Whites Only' signs. This result has two important consequences. First, it affords at least a prima facie case for the regulation of this subset of racist hate speech. Second, it disproves a certain naive conception of so-called political speech. Although both racist hate speech and 'Whites Only' signs express political messages, they do not and should not count as political speech for the purposes of a free speech principle. Thus, expressing a political opinion is insufficient for being political speech (in the relevant sense).Less
In this chapter, it is argued that some instances of racist hate speech are speech acts that constitute illegal acts of racial discrimination. By identifying a previously overlooked mechanism by which utterances enact norms (the covert exercitive), one comes to see that some racist hate speech enacts discriminatory norms in public places. Such speech thus acts very similarly to 'Whites Only' signs. This result has two important consequences. First, it affords at least a prima facie case for the regulation of this subset of racist hate speech. Second, it disproves a certain naive conception of so-called political speech. Although both racist hate speech and 'Whites Only' signs express political messages, they do not and should not count as political speech for the purposes of a free speech principle. Thus, expressing a political opinion is insufficient for being political speech (in the relevant sense).
Keywords: racist hate speech, speech act, racial discrimination, free speech, exercitive, regulation, norms, Whites Only signs, political speech
Genocidal Language Games 1
Tirrell Lynne
This chapter examines the role played by derogatory terms (e.g. 'inyenzi' or cockroach, 'inzoka' or snake) in laying the social groundwork for the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. The ... More
This chapter examines the role played by derogatory terms (e.g. 'inyenzi' or cockroach, 'inzoka' or snake) in laying the social groundwork for the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. The genocide was preceded by an increase in the use of anti-Tutsi derogatory terms among the Hutu. As these linguistic practices evolved, the terms became more openly and directly aimed at Tutsi. Then, during the 100 days of the genocide, derogatory terms and coded euphemisms were used to direct killers to their victims. Understanding these speech acts helps to illuminate the important ways that power is enacted through discourse, how speech acts can prepare the way for physical and material acts, and how speech generates permissions for actions hitherto uncountenanced. Studying the role of speech acts and linguistic practices in laying the groundwork of the genocide illuminates how patterns of speech acts become linguistic practices that constitute permissibility conditions for non-linguistic behaviors. Further, the analysis presented here helps to make sense of the view that a steady, deep, and widespread derogation of a group can be part and parcel of genocide, not only an antecedent to it.Less
This chapter examines the role played by derogatory terms (e.g. 'inyenzi' or cockroach, 'inzoka' or snake) in laying the social groundwork for the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. The genocide was preceded by an increase in the use of anti-Tutsi derogatory terms among the Hutu. As these linguistic practices evolved, the terms became more openly and directly aimed at Tutsi. Then, during the 100 days of the genocide, derogatory terms and coded euphemisms were used to direct killers to their victims. Understanding these speech acts helps to illuminate the important ways that power is enacted through discourse, how speech acts can prepare the way for physical and material acts, and how speech generates permissions for actions hitherto uncountenanced. Studying the role of speech acts and linguistic practices in laying the groundwork of the genocide illuminates how patterns of speech acts become linguistic practices that constitute permissibility conditions for non-linguistic behaviors. Further, the analysis presented here helps to make sense of the view that a steady, deep, and widespread derogation of a group can be part and parcel of genocide, not only an antecedent to it.
Keywords: genocide, Rwanda, derogatory terms, epithets, slurs, linguistic violence, language games, speech acts, expressive commitment, inferential roles, status-functions, harm
Scripture and the Sufficiency of Divine Speech
Timothy Ward
in Word and Supplement: Speech Acts, Biblical Texts, and the Sufficiency of Scripture
Religion, Biblical Studies, Theology
In this chapter, speech act theory is outlined and then appropriated, especially in Wolterstorff's development of it, to provide a means by which an ontological link between God and Scripture may be ... More
In this chapter, speech act theory is outlined and then appropriated, especially in Wolterstorff's development of it, to provide a means by which an ontological link between God and Scripture may be conceived of, such that the human words of the Bible, as they mediate divine illocutionary acts, may legitimately be identified directly with the Word of God. The chapter suggests a construal of the orthodox Protestant identification of the Bible with the Word of God, that is, with God's speech, which satisfies the concerns which led Barth to reject that identification.Less
In this chapter, speech act theory is outlined and then appropriated, especially in Wolterstorff's development of it, to provide a means by which an ontological link between God and Scripture may be conceived of, such that the human words of the Bible, as they mediate divine illocutionary acts, may legitimately be identified directly with the Word of God. The chapter suggests a construal of the orthodox Protestant identification of the Bible with the Word of God, that is, with God's speech, which satisfies the concerns which led Barth to reject that identification.
Keywords: Scripture, speech act theory, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Word of God, Bible, Karl Barth
Relativism and Monadic Truth
Herman Cappelen and John Hawthorne
Philosophy, General
Relativism has dominated many intellectual circles, past and present, but the 20th century saw it banished to the fringes of mainstream analytic philosophy. Of late, however, it is making something ... More
Relativism has dominated many intellectual circles, past and present, but the 20th century saw it banished to the fringes of mainstream analytic philosophy. Of late, however, it is making something of a comeback within that loosely configured tradition, a comeback that attempts to capitalize on some important ideas in foundational semantics. This book aims not merely to combat analytic relativism but also to combat the foundational ideas in semantics that led to its revival. Doing so requires a proper understanding of the significance of possible worlds semantics, an examination of the relation between truth and the flow of time, an account of putatively relevant data from attitude and speech act reporting, and a careful treatment of various operators. This book contrasts relativism with a view according to which the contents of thought and talk are propositions that instantiate the fundamental monadic properties of truth simpliciter and falsity simpliciter. Such propositions, it argues, are the semantic values of sentences (relative to context), the objects of illocutionary acts, and, unsurprisingly, the objects of propositional attitudes.Less
Herman CappelenJohn Hawthorne
Relativism has dominated many intellectual circles, past and present, but the 20th century saw it banished to the fringes of mainstream analytic philosophy. Of late, however, it is making something of a comeback within that loosely configured tradition, a comeback that attempts to capitalize on some important ideas in foundational semantics. This book aims not merely to combat analytic relativism but also to combat the foundational ideas in semantics that led to its revival. Doing so requires a proper understanding of the significance of possible worlds semantics, an examination of the relation between truth and the flow of time, an account of putatively relevant data from attitude and speech act reporting, and a careful treatment of various operators. This book contrasts relativism with a view according to which the contents of thought and talk are propositions that instantiate the fundamental monadic properties of truth simpliciter and falsity simpliciter. Such propositions, it argues, are the semantic values of sentences (relative to context), the objects of illocutionary acts, and, unsurprisingly, the objects of propositional attitudes.
Keywords: analytic philosophy, analytic relativism, worlds semantics, truth, flow of time, speech act reporting, propositions, truth simpliciter, falsity simpliciter
A Positive Representational–Pragmatic View
This chapter discusses what is going on in apparent cases of sub-sentential speech acts. It begins with a relatively broad-strokes account of how agents can communicate using ordinary words and ... More
This chapter discusses what is going on in apparent cases of sub-sentential speech acts. It begins with a relatively broad-strokes account of how agents can communicate using ordinary words and phrases; this provides the 'general view'. The general view is taken to be the core of the positive position. A preferred way of spelling out the general view is presented — the so-called 'specific view' — which introduces internal mental representations of various sorts. The result is a view that is not only pragmatic, but representational.Less
This chapter discusses what is going on in apparent cases of sub-sentential speech acts. It begins with a relatively broad-strokes account of how agents can communicate using ordinary words and phrases; this provides the 'general view'. The general view is taken to be the core of the positive position. A preferred way of spelling out the general view is presented — the so-called 'specific view' — which introduces internal mental representations of various sorts. The result is a view that is not only pragmatic, but representational.
Keywords: sub-sentential speech acts, general view, specific view
Speech Acts and Unspeakable Acts
Rae Langton
in Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification
Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
Courts declared that pornography is speech. MacKinnon declared pornography is a kind of act. Put these together and pornography is a kind of speech act. An Austinian perspective makes sense of two ... More
Courts declared that pornography is speech. MacKinnon declared pornography is a kind of act. Put these together and pornography is a kind of speech act. An Austinian perspective makes sense of two controversial feminist claims: pornography subordinates women, and silences women. These claims can be understood in a causal way, as describing pornography's perlocutionary effects; or in a constitutive way, as describing pornography's illocutionary force. The latter is crucial to feminist argument. Pornography can subordinate women if it is an illocutionary act that ranks women as inferior, legitimates discrimination, and deprives women of powers. It can silence women if it creates illocutionary disablement, undermining women's capacity to perform certain illocutionary speech acts, for example those of sexual refusal.Less
Courts declared that pornography is speech. MacKinnon declared pornography is a kind of act. Put these together and pornography is a kind of speech act. An Austinian perspective makes sense of two controversial feminist claims: pornography subordinates women, and silences women. These claims can be understood in a causal way, as describing pornography's perlocutionary effects; or in a constitutive way, as describing pornography's illocutionary force. The latter is crucial to feminist argument. Pornography can subordinate women if it is an illocutionary act that ranks women as inferior, legitimates discrimination, and deprives women of powers. It can silence women if it creates illocutionary disablement, undermining women's capacity to perform certain illocutionary speech acts, for example those of sexual refusal.
Keywords: pornography, speech act, illocutionary act, illocutionary disablement, perlocutionary effects, subordinate, silence, Austin, MacKinnon
Renewing Meaning: A Speech-Act Theoretic Approach
Stephen J Barker
This book develops an alternative approach to sentence- and word-meaning, which I dub the speech-act theoretic approach, or STA. Instead of employing the syntactic and semantic forms of modern ... More
This book develops an alternative approach to sentence- and word-meaning, which I dub the speech-act theoretic approach, or STA. Instead of employing the syntactic and semantic forms of modern logic–principally, quantification theory–to construct semantic theories, STA employs speech-act structures. The structures it employs are those postulated by a novel theory of speech-acts. STA develops a compositional semantics in which surface grammar is integrated with semantic interpretation in a way not allowed by standard quantification-based theories. It provides a pragmatic theory of truth, a treatment of logically complex discourse as expressive cognitive states, and a background metaphysics in which the world is a totality of logically simple states of affairs. The book also puts forward an account of how intentional states provide the simple, representational foundation for a superstructure of speech-act structures–a system of thoughts–that far outruns the expressive power of the intentional foundation. In short, it provides an account of cognitive foundations of a language and a naturalistic reduction of semantics through an expressive theory of semantic norms.Less
Renewing Meaning : A Speech-Act Theoretic Approach
This book develops an alternative approach to sentence- and word-meaning, which I dub the speech-act theoretic approach, or STA. Instead of employing the syntactic and semantic forms of modern logic–principally, quantification theory–to construct semantic theories, STA employs speech-act structures. The structures it employs are those postulated by a novel theory of speech-acts. STA develops a compositional semantics in which surface grammar is integrated with semantic interpretation in a way not allowed by standard quantification-based theories. It provides a pragmatic theory of truth, a treatment of logically complex discourse as expressive cognitive states, and a background metaphysics in which the world is a totality of logically simple states of affairs. The book also puts forward an account of how intentional states provide the simple, representational foundation for a superstructure of speech-act structures–a system of thoughts–that far outruns the expressive power of the intentional foundation. In short, it provides an account of cognitive foundations of a language and a naturalistic reduction of semantics through an expressive theory of semantic norms.
Keywords: compositional, expression, intention, pragmatic, proto-act, pronoun quantification, speech act, truth, representation, pragmatic
Subordinating Speech 1
Ishani Maitra
This chapter considers whether ordinary instances of racist hate speech can be authoritative, thereby constituting the subordination of people of color. It is often said that ordinary speakers cannot ... More
This chapter considers whether ordinary instances of racist hate speech can be authoritative, thereby constituting the subordination of people of color. It is often said that ordinary speakers cannot subordinate because they lack authority. Here it is argued that there are more ways in which speakers can come to have authority than have been generally recognized. In part, this is because authority has been taken to be too closely tied to social position. This chapter presents a series of examples which show that speaker authority needn't derive from social position at all. Moreover, these examples also show that a speaker can come to have authority even when they lack it prior to speaking. After distinguishing these different ways in which speakers can come to have authority, it is argued that there is ample reason to think that even producers of ordinary instances of racist hate speech can sometimes have authority in these ways.Less
This chapter considers whether ordinary instances of racist hate speech can be authoritative, thereby constituting the subordination of people of color. It is often said that ordinary speakers cannot subordinate because they lack authority. Here it is argued that there are more ways in which speakers can come to have authority than have been generally recognized. In part, this is because authority has been taken to be too closely tied to social position. This chapter presents a series of examples which show that speaker authority needn't derive from social position at all. Moreover, these examples also show that a speaker can come to have authority even when they lack it prior to speaking. After distinguishing these different ways in which speakers can come to have authority, it is argued that there is ample reason to think that even producers of ordinary instances of racist hate speech can sometimes have authority in these ways.
Keywords: racist hate speech, subordination, authority, pornography, speech act, ranking, assertion
From Rights to Rights Claiming
in Making Rights Claims: A Practice of Democratic Citizenship
This chapter introduces readers to the key debates about the relationship between rights and democracy that are explored throughout the work as a whole as well as to the philosophical framework that ... More
This chapter introduces readers to the key debates about the relationship between rights and democracy that are explored throughout the work as a whole as well as to the philosophical framework that is developed to defend rights as a valuable language of democratic politics. Identifying several philosophical and political problems that have rendered rights a suspect language of democratic contestation, it makes the case for re-examining the relationship between rights and democracy rather than either too quickly dismissing or too heartily defending rights as consistent with democracy. The chapter draws on insights from speech act theory and democratic theory to develops a performative perspective on rights claiming and suggests that the democratic character of rights, their potential and their limits, becomes more visible when we understand rights as a performative utterances that shape as well as reflect our identity, our communities, and our understanding of politics. This chapter thus sets out the meaning of key terms, such as rights, rights claiming, and performativity, and establishes the importance of appreciating what speech act theorists call the perlocutionary rather than simply the illocutionary dimensions of speech acts.Less
This chapter introduces readers to the key debates about the relationship between rights and democracy that are explored throughout the work as a whole as well as to the philosophical framework that is developed to defend rights as a valuable language of democratic politics. Identifying several philosophical and political problems that have rendered rights a suspect language of democratic contestation, it makes the case for re-examining the relationship between rights and democracy rather than either too quickly dismissing or too heartily defending rights as consistent with democracy. The chapter draws on insights from speech act theory and democratic theory to develops a performative perspective on rights claiming and suggests that the democratic character of rights, their potential and their limits, becomes more visible when we understand rights as a performative utterances that shape as well as reflect our identity, our communities, and our understanding of politics. This chapter thus sets out the meaning of key terms, such as rights, rights claiming, and performativity, and establishes the importance of appreciating what speech act theorists call the perlocutionary rather than simply the illocutionary dimensions of speech acts.
Keywords: rights, democracy, democratic politics, performative utterances, speech act theory
Is There a "Feminist" Philosophy of Language?
Louise Antony
in Out from the Shadows: Analytical Feminist Contributions to Traditional Philosophy
I distinguish two types of feminist projects within philosophy. One, which I call the "practicalist" project, aims simply to solve philosophical issues of concern to feminism, with no prior ... More
I distinguish two types of feminist projects within philosophy. One, which I call the "practicalist" project, aims simply to solve philosophical issues of concern to feminism, with no prior assumptions about the suitability of particular methods or theories. Another, which I call the "replacement" project, rejects certain methods or theories as too androcentric to serve feminist goals, and aims to replace them with "feminist" alternatives. I argue that we should abandon the replacement project. Because the replacement project depends on discrediting, rather than arguing against, the philosophical views to be replaced, it is potentially disrespectful to and exclusionary of feminists who happen to support the stigmatized view. The practicalist project, on the other hand, acknowledges that different feminists may find value in different places, even in work that is compromised by sexism. I illustrate my point by critically examining Jennifer Hornsby's arguments in favor of a certain view in the philosophy of language, and against another, on the grounds that the latter stems from "malestream" thinking. I argue that Hornsby's view is no less malestream than the view she rejects. I also argue that there are strong arguments in favor of the view she rejects, arguments that are obscured by her style of attack. Finally, I argue that the view Hornsby stigmatizes is actually more useful for feminist purposes than the view she favors. Thus, I conclude, there is justification for Hornsby's claim that hers is the more "feminist" philosophy of language.Less
I distinguish two types of feminist projects within philosophy. One, which I call the "practicalist" project, aims simply to solve philosophical issues of concern to feminism, with no prior assumptions about the suitability of particular methods or theories. Another, which I call the "replacement" project, rejects certain methods or theories as too androcentric to serve feminist goals, and aims to replace them with "feminist" alternatives. I argue that we should abandon the replacement project. Because the replacement project depends on discrediting, rather than arguing against, the philosophical views to be replaced, it is potentially disrespectful to and exclusionary of feminists who happen to support the stigmatized view. The practicalist project, on the other hand, acknowledges that different feminists may find value in different places, even in work that is compromised by sexism. I illustrate my point by critically examining Jennifer Hornsby's arguments in favor of a certain view in the philosophy of language, and against another, on the grounds that the latter stems from "malestream" thinking. I argue that Hornsby's view is no less malestream than the view she rejects. I also argue that there are strong arguments in favor of the view she rejects, arguments that are obscured by her style of attack. Finally, I argue that the view Hornsby stigmatizes is actually more useful for feminist purposes than the view she favors. Thus, I conclude, there is justification for Hornsby's claim that hers is the more "feminist" philosophy of language.
Keywords: language, method, speech-act theory, meaning, communication, pornography, semantics, pragmatics, implicature
Ronald W. Langacker
in Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction
Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
A discourse consists of usage events, and in the usage based approach linguistic units are seen as being abstracted from such events. Discourse is fundamentally interactive and necessarily dynamic. ... More
A discourse consists of usage events, and in the usage based approach linguistic units are seen as being abstracted from such events. Discourse is fundamentally interactive and necessarily dynamic. Abstracted units retain these properties to varying degrees. At both the semantic and the phonological pole, discourse unfolds in a number of channels: objective content, information structure, speech management; segmental content, prosody, gesture. Discourse presupposes an elaborate conceptual substrate which supports and makes coherent what is overtly expressed. One facet of this substrate is the context, including the speaker-hearer interaction and the ongoing discourse itself. Another is the viewing arrangement, i.e. the relation between the interlocutors and the situation described. Also involved are speech acts, based on culturally recognized scenarios of linguistic interaction; while typically covert, these can also be expressed by clauses used descriptively or as performatives (actual enactments of the scenarios). Closely related are vocatives and other kinds of expressive utterances. Being used for many purposes, discourse occurs in many spoken and written genres. Depending on the genre, various levels and dimensions of organization can be discerned. Important in conversation is organization into attentional frames: intonation groups each representing a single window of attention. As discourse proceeds, a conceptual structure is built and progressively updated. Discourse is most effective when it follows certain basic principles of structure building. Grammar is shaped by discourse, and grammatical structures serve particular discourse functions. Grammar includes not only conventional patterns for assembling complex expressions but also established ways of applying them to the ongoing discourse. Grounding is often effected in this manner.Less
A discourse consists of usage events, and in the usage based approach linguistic units are seen as being abstracted from such events. Discourse is fundamentally interactive and necessarily dynamic. Abstracted units retain these properties to varying degrees. At both the semantic and the phonological pole, discourse unfolds in a number of channels: objective content, information structure, speech management; segmental content, prosody, gesture. Discourse presupposes an elaborate conceptual substrate which supports and makes coherent what is overtly expressed. One facet of this substrate is the context, including the speaker-hearer interaction and the ongoing discourse itself. Another is the viewing arrangement, i.e. the relation between the interlocutors and the situation described. Also involved are speech acts, based on culturally recognized scenarios of linguistic interaction; while typically covert, these can also be expressed by clauses used descriptively or as performatives (actual enactments of the scenarios). Closely related are vocatives and other kinds of expressive utterances. Being used for many purposes, discourse occurs in many spoken and written genres. Depending on the genre, various levels and dimensions of organization can be discerned. Important in conversation is organization into attentional frames: intonation groups each representing a single window of attention. As discourse proceeds, a conceptual structure is built and progressively updated. Discourse is most effective when it follows certain basic principles of structure building. Grammar is shaped by discourse, and grammatical structures serve particular discourse functions. Grammar includes not only conventional patterns for assembling complex expressions but also established ways of applying them to the ongoing discourse. Grounding is often effected in this manner.
Keywords: attention, attentional frame, channel, conceptual substrate, context, conversation, discourse function, dynamicity, expressive, genre, gesture, grounding, information structure, interaction, intonation group, level of organization, performative, prosody, sound segment, speech act, speech management, structure building, usage-based approach, usage event, viewing arrangement, vocative, window of attention, writing
Beyond Belief: Pragmatics in Hate Speech and Pornography1
Langton Rae
Pragmatics can shed light on racial hate speech and pornography, but only if we bring it down to earth. Five models for hate speech and pornography are distinguished: a conditioning model, an ... More
Pragmatics can shed light on racial hate speech and pornography, but only if we bring it down to earth. Five models for hate speech and pornography are distinguished: a conditioning model, an imitation model, an argument model, a speech act model, and its descendant, the pragmatic model. A speech act model distinguishes illocutionary and perlocutionary dimensions of speech: e.g. hate speech can incite, and cause, hatred and violence. The pragmatic model tries to capture these dimensions via an account of accommodation. It can indeed illuminate racial hate speech and pornography, but only with amendments that go 'beyond belief'. Lewis and Stalnaker showed how 'score' or 'common ground' of conversation accommodates to moves speakers make, and the hearer's belief adjusts accordingly. This picture needs extending to make sense of hate speech and pornography: we need to allow for the accommodation of other attitudes, such as desire and hate.Less
Pragmatics can shed light on racial hate speech and pornography, but only if we bring it down to earth. Five models for hate speech and pornography are distinguished: a conditioning model, an imitation model, an argument model, a speech act model, and its descendant, the pragmatic model. A speech act model distinguishes illocutionary and perlocutionary dimensions of speech: e.g. hate speech can incite, and cause, hatred and violence. The pragmatic model tries to capture these dimensions via an account of accommodation. It can indeed illuminate racial hate speech and pornography, but only with amendments that go 'beyond belief'. Lewis and Stalnaker showed how 'score' or 'common ground' of conversation accommodates to moves speakers make, and the hearer's belief adjusts accordingly. This picture needs extending to make sense of hate speech and pornography: we need to allow for the accommodation of other attitudes, such as desire and hate.
Keywords: racial hate speech, pornography, propaganda, hatred, sexual desire, accommodation, speech act, illocution, perlocution, score, common ground
Contrastive topics operate on speech acts *
Satoshi Tomioka
in Information Structure: Theoretical, Typological, and Experimental Perspectives
Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
Contrastive Topics are known to elicit a kind of pragmatic effect that is characterized as incompleteness, partiality, and/or uncertainty. Chapter 5 'Contrastive Topics Operate on Speech Acts' by ... More
Contrastive Topics are known to elicit a kind of pragmatic effect that is characterized as incompleteness, partiality, and/or uncertainty. Chapter 5 'Contrastive Topics Operate on Speech Acts' by Satoshi Tomioka presents an analysis of this effect that makes appeal to contrasted speech acts. The majority of the empirical data discussed in the chapter come from Japanese, in which contrastive topics receive proto‐typical focus accents and the particle (‐wa) that signals a sentence topic must be employed. The proposed analysis derives the pragmatic effect of contrastive topics by making use of the contribution of focus accents, the function of the topic particle, and pragmatic inference based on the Gricean reasoning. A variety of consequences and implications of the analysis are also addressed.Less
Contrastive Topics are known to elicit a kind of pragmatic effect that is characterized as incompleteness, partiality, and/or uncertainty. Chapter 5 'Contrastive Topics Operate on Speech Acts' by Satoshi Tomioka presents an analysis of this effect that makes appeal to contrasted speech acts. The majority of the empirical data discussed in the chapter come from Japanese, in which contrastive topics receive proto‐typical focus accents and the particle (‐wa) that signals a sentence topic must be employed. The proposed analysis derives the pragmatic effect of contrastive topics by making use of the contribution of focus accents, the function of the topic particle, and pragmatic inference based on the Gricean reasoning. A variety of consequences and implications of the analysis are also addressed.
Keywords: contrastive topic, exhaustivity, focus, scalar implicature, speech act, thematic topic
THE POETICS AND POLITICS OF THE DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE
Cornelia Pearsall
in Tennyson's Rapture: Transformation in the Victorian Dramatic Monologue
Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Pearsall argues against the prevailing critical conception of dramatic monologists as inadvertent in their revelations and ignorant of the consequences of their speech, suggesting instead that ... More
Pearsall argues against the prevailing critical conception of dramatic monologists as inadvertent in their revelations and ignorant of the consequences of their speech, suggesting instead that dramatic monologists are highly purposeful in their speech, employing sophisticated rhetorical strategies in order to effect political and personal transformation, or "rapture." The author divides Chapter One into two major sections. The first section, "Poetics: Persuasive Similitude," offers a new approach to reading all Victorian dramatic monologues, identifying the trope of simile as a defining element of the genre, and arguing that monologists seek to perform a range of acts by way of their speech. The second section, "Politics: Whig Poetics," details the relevance of Britain's Whig Party and the furor surrounding the passage of the 1832 Reform Bill to Tennyson's poetic development. Pearsall illuminates the ways in which Tennyson's Whig political views were influenced by Arthur Henry Hallam, and helped shape his poetry both thematically and formally.Less
Pearsall argues against the prevailing critical conception of dramatic monologists as inadvertent in their revelations and ignorant of the consequences of their speech, suggesting instead that dramatic monologists are highly purposeful in their speech, employing sophisticated rhetorical strategies in order to effect political and personal transformation, or "rapture." The author divides Chapter One into two major sections. The first section, "Poetics: Persuasive Similitude," offers a new approach to reading all Victorian dramatic monologues, identifying the trope of simile as a defining element of the genre, and arguing that monologists seek to perform a range of acts by way of their speech. The second section, "Politics: Whig Poetics," details the relevance of Britain's Whig Party and the furor surrounding the passage of the 1832 Reform Bill to Tennyson's poetic development. Pearsall illuminates the ways in which Tennyson's Whig political views were influenced by Arthur Henry Hallam, and helped shape his poetry both thematically and formally.
Keywords: dramatic monologue, rapture, transformation Whig Party, Reform Bill, Arthur Henry Hallam, speech act theory, simile