A Dictionary of Philosophy, Third Edition
. 1911–60. British philosopher who worked in Oxford where he was one of the leaders of ‘linguistic PHILOSOPHY’ after the Second World War. He emphasized the philosophical significance of the nuances of ordinary language, and is mainly noted for his theory of SPEECH ACTS. ‘Ifs and Cans’, 1960.
‘A Pleas for Excuses’, 1956. (Two lectures relevant to FREEWILL, and reprinted in his Collected Papers, 1961.) Sense and Sensibilia, 1962 (attacks SENSEDATUM theory of AYER). How to Do Things with Words, 1962 (main source for speech act theory). See also CONDITIONALS, EPISTEMOLOGY, LANGUAGE (PHILOSOPHY OF), MEANING, SCEPTICISM, TRUTH.
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