Research on Meaning and Force in Speech Acts

在这个研究项目中，我发展了一个以规定为基础的言外行为理论的基础部分。它是“基于描述的”，因为它的基本公式是将行为归于主体的公式。它们被用来陈述关于特定话语的事实和代理人的以言行事行为。该理论的语言还包含一些公式，用来说明对语境类型、话语类型、可能的以言行事行为类型和背景条件类型的可能组合的限制。然而，它并不包含发出命令、作出承诺、提出请求等的公式。它并不意味着是一种可以执行各种以言行事行为的通用语言，而是一种陈述各种理论假设的专用语言，这一理论包含了一个关于言外行为内容的一般理论，其基础是：J.L.奥斯汀的真理理论的一个概括版本。通过扩展奥斯汀的指示性和描述性惯例的概念，使其不仅涵盖断言的情况下，而且还包括断言以外的言外行为，它规定了内容的言外行为的内容，通过规定他们的满足条件，而不是诉诸命题的概念。它尊重人们的直觉，即命令和承诺不是可以是真或假的东西，它把言外行为看作是改变情境的行为。它的目的是根据具有这些力量的言外之力行为所引起的各种情景的变化类型来描述每一种言外之力。在发展这一理论的过程中，我采用了情景理论的一种语言版本。

In this research project, I have developed elementary part of an ascription-based theory of illocutionary acts. It is "ascription-based" in the sense that its basic formulas are formulas ascribing actions to agents. They are used in order to state facts about particular utterances and illocutionary acts performed by agents. The language of the theory also contains formulas used for stating constraints upon possible combinations of types of contexts, types of utterances, types of possiblle illocutionary acts, aud types of background conditions. It doesn't contain, however, formulas for giving commands, making promises, making requests, aud so on. It is not meant to be an all-purpose language in which all sorts of illocutionary acts could be performed, but is meant to be a special-purpose language for stating various theoretical assumptions, hypotheses and their consequences about speech acts performed in natural languages.This theory contains a general theory of content for illocutionary acts which is based on a generalized version of J.L.Austin's theory of Truth. By extending Austin's notions of demonstrative and descriptive conventions so as to cover cases not only of assertives but also of illocutionary acts other than assertives, it specifies contents of contentful illocutionary acts through specifying conditions of their satisfaction without appealing to the notion of propositions. It respects the intuition that commauds and promises are not things which can be true or false.This theory treats illocutionary acts as acts, i.e.that which change situations. It aims to characterize each illocutionary force in terms of types of changes in types of situations which illocutionary acts with those forces bring about.In developing this theory, I have adopted a version of the language of Situation Theory.