A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts

Reference: Searle, J. R. (1975). In K. Gunderson (Ed.), Language, Mind, and Knowledge (Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 7), pp. 344–369. University of Minnesota Press. Reprinted in Expression and Meaning (1979), CUP. Source file: searle_taxonomy_illocutionary_acts.pdf. URL

Summary

Searle develops a principled classification of illocutionary acts, replacing Austin’s intuitive five-category scheme (verdictive, expositive, exercitive, behabitive, commissive) with a taxonomy grounded in twelve significant dimensions of variation — chief among them illocutionary point, direction of fit (words-to-world, world-to-words, double, or null), and expressed psychological state (sincerity condition). Applying these criteria yields five basic classes: Representatives (assertions, conclusions — word-to-world fit, expressing belief), Directives (requests, commands — world-to-word fit, expressing want), Commissives (promises, threats — world-to-word fit, expressing intention), Expressives (thanks, apologies — null direction of fit, expressing various psychological states), and Declaratives (christenings, firings — double direction of fit, typically requiring an extra-linguistic institution).

Searle criticises Austin’s taxonomy for confusing illocutionary verbs with illocutionary acts (verbs are language-relative; acts are not), for overlap among categories, and for lacking a consistent principle of classification. The taxonomy became the standard reference for speech-act theory and, via agent communication language design, provided the fundamental performative vocabulary (tell, ask, promise, declare) inherited by KQML, FIPA-ACL, and later protocol work.

Key Ideas

• Twelve dimensions of illocutionary variation; three central ones dominate.
• Illocutionary point, direction of fit, expressed psychological state.
• Five classes: Representatives, Directives, Commissives, Expressives, Declaratives.
• Distinction between illocutionary verbs and illocutionary acts.
• Declaratives depend on extra-linguistic institutions.
• Critique of Austin: no single principle, verb/act conflation, overlap.
• Sincerity conditions as essential to each class.

Connections

• Speech Act Theory
• Speech Acts
• Speech Acts - An Essay in the Philosophy of Language
• Foundations Of Illocutionary Logic
• Performatives
• Abstract Performative
• Elephant 2000 - A Programming Language Based on Speech Acts
• KQML
• KQML as an Agent Communication Language
• Agent Communication Languages
• A Common Ontology Of ACLs

Conceptual Contribution

• Claim: Illocutionary acts partition into exactly five basic classes (Representatives, Directives, Commissives, Expressives, Declaratives), determined by a small set of semantic dimensions (point, direction of fit, sincerity condition) rather than by surface verbs.
• Mechanism: Enumerate twelve dimensions of variation; elevate three (illocutionary point, direction of fit, psychological state expressed) as primary axes; derive the five classes as equivalence classes under these axes; show Austin’s categories conflate verbs with acts and cross-cut the principled axes, producing overlap and miscategorisation (e.g., describe straddles representative/verdictive).
• Concepts introduced/used: Illocutionary Point, Direction Of Fit, Sincerity Condition, Representatives, Directives, Commissives, Expressives, Declaratives
• Stance: theoretical taxonomy
• Relates to: Provides the performative vocabulary taken up by KQML, KQML as an Agent Communication Language, and downstream work on Agent Communication Languages; formalised further in Foundations Of Illocutionary Logic; offers the linguistic underpinning critiqued/extended by Agent Communication Languages - Rethinking the Principles and operationalised in Elephant 2000 - A Programming Language Based on Speech Acts.

Tags

#speech-acts #philosophy-of-language #foundational #taxonomy #performatives