John Austin
John Langshaw Austin (1911-1960) was born in Lancaster and studied the same degree at Grice, LiteraeHumaniores ('Greats') at Oxford from 1929, recieving a first class honours in 1933. After serving in MI6 during World War II, Austin became a professor at Oxford, teaching Moral Philosophy. In 1955 he visited Harvard to give guest lectures which would form the basis for 'How to do things with words' (See Example Research: Speech Act Theory), where he met and befriended linguist Noam Chomsky. Austin died of lung cancer at the age of 48.
What is Speech Act Theory?
The theory that certain utterances 'bring about a change in the existing state of affairs'.[1]
Example:
'I baptise thee' - said to a newborn means they are now a Christian.[1]
'I sentence you to five years imprisonment' - said to a convict means they spend five years in prison.
There are different levels of a speech act:[2]
The actual words uttered. "What time do you call this?"