Expression and Meaning
Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts

John Searle's Speech Acts made a highly original contribution to work in the philosophy of language.

John R. Searle (Author)

9780521313933, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 27 November 1985

204 pages, 4 b/w illus.
21.6 x 13.8 x 1.5 cm, 0.25 kg

'There is a great deal of meat in Searle's treatment of metaphor, as elsewhere in his book, giving it an important place among the steadily increasing works that are developing the foundations, implications and applications of act theory.' Monroe C. Beardsley, International Studies in Philosophy

John Searle's Speech Acts made a highly original contribution to work in the philosophy of language. Expression and Meaning is a direct successor, concerned to develop and refine the account presented in Searle's earlier work, and to extend its application to other modes of discourse such as metaphor, fiction, reference, and indirect speech arts. Searle also presents a rational taxonomy of types of speech acts and explores the relation between the meanings of sentences and the contexts of their utterance. The book points forward to a larger theme implicit in these problems - the basis certain features of speech have in the intentionality of mind, and even more generally, the relation of the philosophy of language to the philosophy of mind.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Origins of the essays
1. A taxonomy of illocutionary acts
2. Indirect speech acts
3. The logical status of fictional discourse
4. Metaphor
5. Literal meaning
6. Referential and attributive
7. Speech acts and recent linguistics
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS], Philosophy of language [CFA]