Week 9 Flashcards
What is assertion?
an act whose main purpose is to describe a state of affairs
What does a performative speech act do?
performs the act it describes (promise made to the speaker) e.g. I promise to do the dishes tonight
What does a constative speech act do?
describes a situation, but does not perform the act described (no promise to the speaker) e.g. Jo promised to do the dishes tonight
What are the tests for performative utterances?
hereby test; 1st person subject, present tense, and active voice
What do assertive speech acts do?
commit the speaker to the truth of the proposition expressed: state, suggest, warn, claim, report
What do directive speech acts do?
speaker intends to elicit an action by addressee: order, command, request, beg, recommend, ask
What do comissive speech acts do?
commit the speaker to a future action: promise, vow, offer, threaten
What do expressive speech acts do?
speaker expresses a psychological attitude: thank, congratulate, praise, blame, forgive
What do declarative speech acts do?
bring about a change in reality: resign, dismiss, name, sentence
What are felicity conditions?
acts that cannot be true or false, but they can be
carried out properly/felicitiously or infelicitiously e.g. promising/requesting
What happens when promising (felicity)?
- speaker must intend to carry out the thing promised
- speaker must be able to carry out the thing promised
- hearer must want thing promised to happen
What happens when requesting (felicity)?
- hearer must be able to carry out the thing requested
- speaker must want the thing requested to happen
- it must not be obvious that hearer would to the thing
requested without being requested
What are sincerity conditions?
acts that can be carried out sincerely or insincerely
What happens when apologizing (sincerity)?
speaker must believe that the thing apologized for is wrong
What happens when promising (sincerity)?
speaker must intend to carry out the thing promised
