a big, red "No Running" sign at a public pool?
the pace on the deck reflects this statement.
But while the sign accurately describes
isn't it true that people are walking
because the sign tells them no running?
So, is this sign portraying the pool's environment,
or is it doing something else,
The difference between a statement that describes
is an idea developed by British linguist J. L. Austin.
as two separate parts of speech:
that describe something as true or false,
and performatives are sentences
In other words, a constative is,
To help us distinguish these two parts of speech,
let's start by examining constatives
around the park outside the pool.
The first sign we encounter says,
After checking with a friendly park official
that the park does, indeed, close at 6,
we can confirm that this statement
Nearby, there's a man on a bench
with a newspaper, and the headline reads,
"Heatwave!"
However, the sky is cloudy and it feels quite chilly.
Today's headline is a false constative
as it has proven to be incorrect.
Before the rain starts to fall,
let's throw away our can of soda
at the blue trash bin that says, "Recycle."
that are meant to inspire actions.
Rather than conveying a message,
In this case, the performative of "Recycle"
is requesting people to put their trash
Words not only bring about actions,
sometimes words themselves are actions.
This is what is known as speech acts.
These actions include, but are not limited to,
Take a look at the wedding near the gazebo.
The couple says the words, "I do."
The speech act here are the words, "I do."
These words cause them to marry one another.
and profoundly changed their world.
These are known as felicity conditions.
Imagine if the mayor showed up to the wedding
and said, "By the power vested in me
I name this gazebo 'The Mayor's Pizza Palace.'"
His words would be a speech act
the gazebo would be known by its new name.
But if someone who isn't the mayor,
decides to name the gazebo after her favorite cat,
the chances are the name would not change.
Felicity conditions are the rules
under which the performative can be enacted.
The performative should have proper authority,
and it should be able to be executed.
If the performative doesn't meet these conditions,
then it doesn't have the power
But just because a performative meets its conditions
doesn't mean that it's implicitly followed.
a rowdy group of teenagers races to the high dive.
and they'll have to face the consequences
of breaking this performative.
They may even have to force out
some performatives of their own,
such as apologizing to the life guard
and promising to never run again.
Maybe the life guard will respond
sentencing them to be banished from the pool