"How Not To Do Things with Words" is the theme of this year's Castle Lectures, sponsored by the Program in Ethics, Politics and Economics.
The three lectures in the series will be presented by Lady Onora O'Neill, principal of Newnham College, Cambridge University, on April 2, 3 and 7. They are free and open to the public.
In her talks O'Neill will reconsider the ethical implications of the 1998 work "How To Do Things with Words" by the English philosopher of language, J.L. Austin. In that book, Austin founded the study of linguistic pragmatics, which is concerned with how language is used to perform "speech acts" such as assertions, questions, commands, promises, threats, etc.
O'Neill will explore the ways in which speech acts referring to the past, present and future raise a range of ethical issues that take on a distinctive form in an era of global information technologies and media conglomerates.
Her first two lectures -- "Speaking and Deceiving" on Wednesday, April 2, and "Speaking and Blaming" on Thursday, April 3 -- will take place in the lecture hall of the Sterling Memorial Library, 130 Wall St. The final lecture -- "Speaking and Threatening" -- will be held in the Presidents Room on the second floor of Woolsey Hall, corner of Grove and Prospect streets. Each lecture will begin at 4 p.m. and will be followed by a reception.
The Castle Lectures were established by John K. Castle in honor of his ancestor, the Reverend James Pierpont, one of Yale's original founders. The lectures are intended to promote awareness of and sensitivity to ethical issues facing indivuduals in modern American society.
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