Austin and phenomenology
pp. 170-176
in: Harold Durfee (ed), Analytic philosophy and phenomenology, Berlin, Springer, 1976Abstract
This brief note is to suggest that the philosophy of the late J. L. Austin offered largely unrecognized foundations for a significant dialogue between linguistic analysis and phenomenology, which positions have been so deeply divided in contemporary thought. I shall concentrate on two aspects of this relationship which, to my knowledge, have been neglected in the literature. The case should not be overstated, and I do not intend to suggest that Austin consciously or intentionally attempted to affect a relationship between these movements. Nevertheless, implicit in his position there are unexpected openings for dialogue which have been too readily overlooked in the studies of Austin's philosophy. The presence of such relationships does not minimize the many differences, both in content and in spirit, between Austin's philosophy and phenomenology, nor do such differences minimize the contribution he makes to the advancement of the discussion.1
