ILN EP 128: JL Austin

Pat was feeling loquacious as usual so Ben takes this opportunity to lay out the nuanced and penetrating philosophy of British nerd/superspy JL Austin. This guy is famous for being one of the most original philosophers of the 20th Century, focusing mainly on language and its role in constructing our very reality. Austin's main contribution was his theory of Speech Acts -- how utterances in our language constitute more than just propositions describing states of affairs, but also serve as actions that penetrate reality itself. Trippy. Also, this guy worked for British intelligence during World War 2 and most likely provided the crucial intelligence needed to ensure the success of D-Day. So he also kinda saved the world. Good for you, JL!