[lit-ideas] Insults Which Are Humourous (Maybe)
- From: jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 13:39:23 -0400
J. M. Geary:
"'m guessing this is supposed to be a humorous insult."
Mmm. Interesting. For philosopher J. L. Austin (a colleague of H. P.
Grice at Oxford), no such thing:
Condider:
-- "He insulted me, I guess. He meant to be humourous, I guess.
versus:
"If he insulted me, he did it humourously, I guess."
---- I don´t know if he insulted me; I guess so.
--- I don´t know if his was a humorous insult, I guess.
As Austin notes, "a joke is a joke is a joke" -- "illocutionary uptake"
is essential. "One wouldn´t say that he has bet 4,000 dollars on
something unless someone else took his bet."
"Similarly, one cannot say, "He was being humorous, but I failed to
recognise the humour."
Or,
"It is wrong to talk offense unless someone has personally been
offended. "I take offense" is performative."
Or
Grice was more careful,
"The recognition of the intention to insult you may be enough to get
insulted. You don´t need to know what the insult amounts to."
"You can refuse to be insulted."
J. L. Speranza
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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