Performative utterances create reality rather than admit truth-valuation

Evidence

If we consider a declaration such as “The university is open,” pronounced by a dean or rector at convocation, it is clear that the previous specifications no longer apply. Of course, the meaning of the utterance has to be understood, but that is a general condition of communication and does not aid us in distinguishing the different kinds of utterances or their specific effects. The distinctive feature of this second, “performative,” utterance is that its effect upon the referent coincides with its enunciation. The university is open because it has been declared open in the above-mentioned circumstances. That this is so is not subject to discussion or verification on the part of the addressee, who is immediately placed within the new context created by the utterance. — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 136

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lyotard introduces the performative utterance by distinguishing its effect on the referent from constative claims about truth.
• XREF: Directly parallels Austin’s speech act theory and later underpins the critique Jameson’s postmodernism will answer. — connects to: Metaphysical propositions gain truth-value as technology makes them physically realizable — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 808; Positivist truths are linguistic illusions grown canonical through use; Words function as performative interpretations rather than nominal labels (+5 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on…, 136

Broader Connections

• Communication constitutes reality rather than merely representing it #corroborates (0.95) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 382
• Words function as performative interpretations rather than nominal labels #expands (0.85)
• Real action modifies man and reality while verbal action only creates puppets #contradicts (0.85) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1132
• A performative’s force depends on external felicity conditions, not the utterance itself #qualifies (0.82)
• Language’s performative power depends on masked underlying paradigmatic structures #qualifies (0.80)
• Positivist truths are linguistic illusions grown canonical through use #corroborates (0.78)