ABSTRACT
The idea that philosophy is essentially about language is often associated with the linguistic philosophy that flourished, especially at Oxford, in the 1950s and 1960s, and which included Ryle and Austin among its leading exponents. It is probably Austin, more than anyone, who came to be regarded as the archetypal ordinary language philosopher. Austin’s work on various topics has earned him an enduring place in the history of philosophy, and to do justice to it would be beyond the scope of this book. My aim will be to examine his views about the method of ‘what we say’ and his use of it in certain cases.
