Chapter 2: The Directive Function of Language

1. Chapter 2: The Directive Function of Language

2. Directive Language (p. 13) • What directive language is • Commands and Questions • Commands tell you to do or believe something. • Questions tell you to give information. • Directive sentences are not statements. • Commands are neither true nor false.

3. Commands (pp. 14-15) • Concerns with meaning • Ambiguity and Vagueness • Questions of authority • Does the person offering the command have the authority to do so? Does it make a difference whether your philosophy teacher or your drill sergeant tells you to do pushups? • If a person tells you to believe something, does the person’s background make any difference?

4. Statements and Commands (p. 16) • Statements can be reformulated as commands • If Jed says, “Young George Washington cut down a cherry tree” (a claim for which historical evidence is lacking), Jed can be understood as commanding you to believe that young George cut down a cherry tree: “Believe me: Young George Washington cut down a cherry tree.”

5. Statements and Commands (p. 16) • Commands can be reformulated as statements • Commands can be reformulated as statements by adding obligation words such as “You should (or ought, or are obligated to).” • For example, the command “Eat your vegetables” can be reformulated as the statement, “You should eat your vegetables.”

6. Statements and Commands (p. 16) • Kinds of obligation terms • Introducing obligation terms can introduce ambiguities, since there are different kinds of obligation terms. • Kinds of obligations include: • Moral • Social • Legal • Political • Religious