Declarations create new social facts by describing desired changes as already true.
Evidence
According to the philosopher of language John Searle, a declaration is a particular way of speaking and acting that establishes facts out of thin air, creating a new reality where there was nothing. Here is how it works: sometimes we speak to simply describe the world—“you have brown eyes”—or to change it—“Shut the door.” A declaration combines both, asserting a new reality by describing the world as if a desired change were already true: “All humans are created equal.” “They are yours to command.” As Searle writes, “We make something the case by representing it as being the case.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 550
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines Searle’s concept of ‘declaration’ as a speech act that establishes facts by asserting them.
- XREF: Connects to speech act theory (Austin, Searle) and to how institutions legitimate power through performative language. — connects to: Truth is produced socially through power-sanctioned mechanisms of validation. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 590; Descriptions can become true because people act on them believing they are true — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 577; New social knowledge alters the social world rather than merely describing it — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 363 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Descriptions can become true because people act on them believing they are true
#expands(0.85) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 577 - New social knowledge alters the social world rather than merely describing it
#expands(0.80) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 363 - Truth is produced socially through power-sanctioned mechanisms of validation.
#expands(0.78) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 590 - Social participation makes contested attention truth more real over time.
#corroborates(0.72)