ABSTRACT
This is an introductory chapter in which I describe how I approach Austin and why. I also describe the most common and most widely shared views of what Austin’s philosophy amounts to and show why my angle of approach differs from more common ways of approaching Austin. One of the most central assumptions that guide most readers of Austin is the idea that “ordinary language” functions as a “standard of correctness” for him. This, I will argue, is a fundamental misunderstanding. The relevance that ordinary language takes in Austin’s philosophy is much more complicated than that. Exactly how that is to be spelled out and what the consequences are of this more complicated picture are developed throughout the rest of the book.
