Editing Performative utterance (section)

{{Short description|Category of utterances in philosophy of language}}
{{For|the broader philosophical and critical applications of the concept|Performativity}}
In the [[philosophy of language]] and [[speech acts theory]], '''performative utterances''' are [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]]s which not only describe a given reality, but also change the social reality they are describing.

In a 1955 lecture series, later published as ''[[How to Do Things with Words]]'', [[J. L. Austin]] argued against a [[positivist]] philosophical claim that the utterances always "describe" or "constate" something and are thus always true or false. After mentioning several examples of sentences which are not so used, and not truth-evaluable (among them [[nonsensical]] sentences, [[interrogative]]s, [[speech act|directive]]s and "ethical" propositions), he introduces "performative" sentences or [[illocutionary act]] as another instance.<ref name="Austin 1962">Austin, J.L. ''How to Do Things with Words'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962. {{ISBN|0-19-824553-X}}</ref>