Interpreting J. L. Austin Critical Essays

In this volume, Savas L. Tsohatzidis brings together a team of leading experts to provide up-to-date perspectives on the work of J. L. Austin, a major figure in twentieth-century philosophy and an important contributor to theories of language, truth, perception, and knowledge. Focusing on aspects of Austin's writings in these four areas, the volume's ten original essays critically examine central elements of his philosophy, exploring their interrelationships, their historical context, their reception, and their implications for key issues of contemporary philosophical research. The volume deepens our understanding of Austin's philosophy while illustrating its continuing significance, and will appeal to students and scholars of modern philosophy, particularly those interested in the philosophy of language and epistemology.

List of contributors; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Savas L. Tsohatzidis; 1. Exploring Austin's galaxy: searching for truth through the lens of ordinary language Marga Reimer; 2. Levels of linguistic acts and the semantics of saying and quoting Friederike Moltmann; 3. On the representation of form and function: imperative sentences Robert Fiengo; 4. Uptake in action Maximilian de Gaynesford; 5. Performativity and the 'true/false fetish' Savas L. Tsohatzidis; 6. The vulnerability of reality: Austin, normativity, and excuses Sandra Laugier; 7. Berkeley and Austin on the argument from illusion Robert Schwartz; 8. Austin on perception, knowledge and meaning Krista Lawlor; 9. Enough is enough: Austin on knowing Guy Longworth; 10. Knowledge and knowledge-claims: Austin and beyond Stephen Hetherington; Bibliography; Index.

Savas L. Tsohatzidis is Professor of General Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language at Aristotle University, Thessaloniki. His previous publications include John Searle's Philosophy of Language: Force, Meaning, and Mind (Cambridge, 2007) and Intentional Acts and Institutional Facts: Essays on John Searle's Social Ontology (2007).