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....
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2019
|
| _version_ | 1797067819407376384 |
|---|---|
| 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 |