Austin and Derrida: Problems with the literary use of performatives

This thesis returns to Jacques Derrida's engagement with John Austin's theory of performatives to examine the validity and effectiveness of Derrida's "Signature Event Context." Derrida's supporters read "SEC" as a definitive critique of Austin's How to Do Things with Words, while Austin's followers read the paper as an example of bad philosophy. My position lies between these extremes. I will concentrate on Austin's works to argue that Derrida's arguments did not fully hit their mark but did not completely miss the mark either. Like Richard Rorty, I think that Derrida's most valuable contribution to Austin's work is his different perspective. Outrageous as they sometimes are, Derrida's criticisms draw attention to Austin's work and force Austin's followers to look at the issue from a different perspective. My conclusion is that the correctness of Derrida's critique is not as important as the interest that the engagement generated.