Praxéologie et agentivité chez J. L. Austin

Abstract

In J. L. Austin’s works, the idea that language is action is certainly not new. What is however more important for us today is how the introduction of the idea of speech acts transforms not only the conception of language, but also the conception of action: it indeed weakens both our understanding of the notions of “meaning” and of “action”. In Austin’s work, it is the triplet “speech act”/“failure”/“excuse” that is central, and the articulation of these three elements makes obvious the essential character of the social dimension of action in his philosophy. While this article is certainly not a historical study in ethnomethodology, it is yet undoubtedly guided by the idea of sociological enquiry inherited from Harold Garfinkel, where the social order is not an independent reality, and where one seeks to elucidate the constant making of it, as it is recognizable, intelligible, analyzable and reportable by the participants.