Austin and Ordinary Language
Austin and Ordinary Language
This chapter raises the question: What is ordinary about ordinary language? In raising this question, the chapter looks at some of the philosophical writings of John Austin. This chapter does not, however, present a detailed study of Austin's philosophy, but uses passages from his texts as authoritative illustrations of the following problem. Despite the very frequent reference in Austin and many other thinkers to “ordinary language” or what is “ordinarily” said, there is virtually no effort to state in a detailed or even general way what is meant by the expression “ordinary language” and how it can be distinguished from the extraordinary variety. On the contrary, ordinary language is presumed to be directly intelligible and accessible not only to the plain man but to the philosopher as well.
Keywords: authoritative illustrations, John Austin, ordinary language, extraordinary variety, plain man, philosopher
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