Open Access

Just Kidding: Stand-Up, Speech Acts and Slurs

   | Jul 17, 2021

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People respond to moral criticism of their speech by claiming that they were joking. In this paper, I develop a speech act analysis of the humor excuse consisting of a negative stage, in which the speaker denies he or she was making an assertion, and a positive stage, in which the speaker claims she or he was engaged in non-serious/humorous speech instead. This analysis, however, runs afoul of the group identity objection, according to which there is a moral distinction between jokes targeting members of vulnerable groups made by members of those groups and similar jokes made by non-members. In order to avoid this objection, I offer a revision to the speech act analysis that draws upon Perry’s distinction between beliefs and belief-states.

eISSN:
2182-2875
Languages:
English, Portuguese
Publication timeframe:
4 times per year
Journal Subjects:
Philosophy, Selected Philosophical Movements, Analytical Philosophy