Books by JL Austin
J.L. Austin (1911-1960) was a British philosopher of language. For a good biography of J.L. Austin, we recommend:
Books by J.L. Austin include:
“How to Do Things with Words teaches us a lot about how ordinary language works. It is useful to me as a judge, because it helps me avoid the traps that linguistic imprecision can set. If I had to pick a single thing that I draw from Austin’s work it would be that context matters. It enables us to understand, when someone makes a statement, what that statement refers to and what that person meant. Austin set a famous exam question: you bet that all swans are white or black, but does this refer to possible swans on Mars? Not clear. The question is: what’s the context? What’s the scope of that bet?” Read more...
Stephen Breyer on his Intellectual Influences
Stephen Breyer, US Supreme Court Justice
Interviews where books by JL Austin were recommended
Stephen Breyer on his Intellectual Influences
US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer talks about the books that have influenced his thinking and explains why reading widely, including literature, is essential for judges and lawyers.
