Practical Moore sentences
I discuss what I call practical Moore sentences: sentences like ‘You must close your door, but I don't know whether you will’, which combine an order together with an avowal of agnosticism about whether the order will be obeyed. I show that practical Moore sentences are generally infelicitous....
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Format: | Journal article |
Language: | English |
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Wiley
2019
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author | Mandelkern, M |
author_facet | Mandelkern, M |
author_sort | Mandelkern, M |
collection | OXFORD |
description | I discuss what I call practical Moore sentences: sentences like ‘You must close your door, but I don't know whether you will’, which combine an order together with an avowal of agnosticism about whether the order will be obeyed. I show that practical Moore sentences are generally infelicitous. But this infelicity is surprising: it seems like there should be nothing wrong with giving someone an order while acknowledging that you do not know whether it will obeyed. I suggest that this infelicity points to a striking psychological fact, with potentially broad ramifications concerning the structure of norms of speech acts: namely, when giving an order, we must act as if we believe we will be obeyed. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:01:49Z |
format | Journal article |
id | oxford-uuid:4edac87a-2b2a-45ad-b2ba-77dffd1dcd8c |
institution | University of Oxford |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:01:49Z |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | Wiley |
record_format | dspace |
spelling | oxford-uuid:4edac87a-2b2a-45ad-b2ba-77dffd1dcd8c2022-03-26T16:03:40ZPractical Moore sentencesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:4edac87a-2b2a-45ad-b2ba-77dffd1dcd8cEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordWiley2019Mandelkern, MI discuss what I call practical Moore sentences: sentences like ‘You must close your door, but I don't know whether you will’, which combine an order together with an avowal of agnosticism about whether the order will be obeyed. I show that practical Moore sentences are generally infelicitous. But this infelicity is surprising: it seems like there should be nothing wrong with giving someone an order while acknowledging that you do not know whether it will obeyed. I suggest that this infelicity points to a striking psychological fact, with potentially broad ramifications concerning the structure of norms of speech acts: namely, when giving an order, we must act as if we believe we will be obeyed. |
spellingShingle | Mandelkern, M Practical Moore sentences |
title | Practical Moore sentences |
title_full | Practical Moore sentences |
title_fullStr | Practical Moore sentences |
title_full_unstemmed | Practical Moore sentences |
title_short | Practical Moore sentences |
title_sort | practical moore sentences |
work_keys_str_mv | AT mandelkernm practicalmooresentences |