On locutionary and illocutionary acts : [an] honors thesis [(HONRS 499)]

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine John L. Austin's distinction between locutionary and illocutionary acts (1). This will be done in light of criticism offered by professors John L. Searle (3) and L. Jonathan Cohen (2), both of whom hold that Austin's distinction is untenable. I will argue that the distinction may still be acceptable, though it is probably more tenuous than Austin believed.