ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the basics of contract law, uses speech act theory to understand the nature of contracts, and discusses how courts deal with contractual ambiguities. The legal requirements of a contract include the notion of “consideration,” or detriment and value, to each contracting party. In terms of speech act theory, these paired obligations are represented in a contract as a pair of mutually conditioned and conditioning promises. In this chapter felicity conditions are suggested for contractual offers and acceptance, as well as for contractual promises. If a contract is ambiguous, or does the “wrong” thing, how do – and should – courts deal with this interpretive problem? Such semantic interpretation issues can arise with ambiguities of reference as well as other sorts of ambiguity. Cases discussed include Raffles v. Wichelhaus (1864, an English case), Watkins & Sons v. Carrig (1941), Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. G.W. Thomas Drayage and Rigging Co. (1968), and Nelson v. Rice (2000).
