Quote

The general nature of the speech act fallacy can be stated as follows, using good as our example. Calling something good is characteristically praising or commending or recommending it, etc. But it is a fallacy to infer from this that the meaning of good is explained by saying it is used to perform the act of commendation.

John Searle

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

John Searle
Age: 92
Born: 1932
Born: July 31
Artificial Intelligence Researcher
Linguist
Philosopher
University Teacher
Denver
Colorado
John Rogers Searle
John R. Searle
Used
Calling
Praising
Something
Praise
Stated
Good
General
Fallacy
Speech
Explained
Commending
Meaning
Etc
Characteristically
Example
Follows
Recommending
Saying
Perform
Commendation
Nature
Using
Infer

More quotes by John Searle

Image
The assertion fallacy is the fallacy of confusing the conditions for the performance of the speech act of assertion with the analysis of the meaning of particular words occurring in certain assertions.
John Searle
Image
Dualism makes the problem insoluble materialism denies the existence of any phenomenon to study, and hence of any problem.
John Searle
Image
The Intentionality of the mind not only creates the possibility of meaning, but limits its forms.
John Searle
Image
We do not live in several different, or even two different, worlds, a mental world and a physical world, a scientific world and a world of common sense. Rather, there is just one world it is the world we all live in, and we need to account for how we exist as part of it.
John Searle
Image
I will argue that in the literal sense the programmed computer understands what the car and the adding machine understand, namely, exactly nothing.
John Searle
Image
In many cases it is a matter for decision and not a simple matter of fact whether x understands y and so on.
John Searle
Image
Where consciousness is concerned, the appearance is the reality.
John Searle
Image
Whatever is referred to must exist. Let us call this the axiom of existence.
John Searle
Image
Our tools are extensions of our purposes, and so we find it natural to make metaphorical attributions of intentionality to them but I take it no philosophical ice is cut by such examples.
John Searle
Image
Where questions of style and exposition are concerned I try to follow a simple maxim: if you can't say it clearly you don't understand it yourself.
John Searle
Image
The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean that but also to mean something else.
John Searle
Image
There is no success or failure in Nature.
John Searle
Image
You do not understand your own tradition if you do not see it in relation to others.
John Searle
Image
My car and my adding machine understand nothing: they are not in that line of business
John Searle
Image
There are clear cases in which understanding literally applies and clear cases in which it does not apply and these two sorts of cases are all I need for this argument.
John Searle
Image
The ascription of an unconscious intentional phenomenon to a system implies that the phenomenon is in principle accessible to consciousness.
John Searle
Image
Berkeley had a liberal element in the student body who tended to be quite active. I think that's in general a feature of intellectually active places.
John Searle
Image
I want to block some common misunderstandings about understanding: In many of these discussions one finds a lot of fancy footwork about the word understanding.
John Searle