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3rd YEAR PRAGMATICS (2)

FELICITY CONDITIONS

The FELICITY CONDITIONS of an illocutionary act are conditions that must be

fulfilled for the act to be carried out properly/appropriately/successfully.
Austin: 3 types of FELICITY CONDITIONS:

(i) There must be a conventional procedure having a conventional effect.

(ii) The circumstances and persons must be appropriate, as specified in the
procedure.
iii) The procedure must be executed correctly and completely.

EXAMPLES:

One of the felicity conditions for the illocutionary act of ordering : the speaker
must be superior to, or in authority over, the hearer. Thus, if a servant says to the
Queen ‘Open the window’, there is a certain incongruity, or anomaly, or infelicity
in the act (of ordering) carried out, but if the Queen says ‘Open the window’ to
the servant, there is no infelicity.

A felicity condition for the illocutionary act of accusing : the deed attributed to
the accused is wrong in some way. Thus one can felicitously accuse someone of
theft or murder, but normally only infelicitously of being a nice guy or of helping
an old lady to cross the road.

In addition, there is A SINCERITY CONDITION to be abided by : the act is

carried out SINCERELY

YET: failure to meet such a condition does not completely prevent performing
the act

e.g.
A sincerity condition on apologizing is that the apologizer believes that the
thing apologized for is wrong in some way. Thus, if John enters a room at a
certain time, believing that to do so is wrong in some way (e.g. impolite, tactless,
sacrilegious) and he says ‘I’m sorry to come in here at this moment’, then he has
apologized, and apologized sincerely. But if he says the same thing in the same
circumstances, except that he does not believe that what he has done is wrong in
any way, then he has still apologized, yet insincerely.

a sincerity condition the persons must have the requisite thoughts, feelings
and intentions, as specified in the procedure.

Violation of any of the felicity conditions  ‘unhappy’ or infelicitous performative

or ‘misfire’.
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e.g., a registrar or a priest conducting a marriage ceremony in an unauthorized

place

a judge uttering ‘I sentence you to life imprisonment’ not in court but in the
shower

a president declaring war to another country otherwise than via the official
procedures (e.g. during a family picnic)

A command cannot be issued by a particular person of lower status or power to

another particular person of higher status or power.
A promise is usually issued in relation to some future act, while an apology
indicates regret for a past action Speaker feels responsible for.

If the sincerity condition is violated, there is a case of ‘abuse’.

‘I promise to lend you all the money you need’ (when I don’t have the slightest
intention to do so or when I’m penniless)
‘I warn you that you’ll pay through the nose’ (when I know I am not in any
position to sanction you legally or otherwise)
‘I congratulate you for this breath-taking performance ‘ (when I am not in the
least pleased with the performance in question)

APPLICATIONS:

1.Which felicity conditions need to be met with for apologies to be successfully

performed?

a) the S outranks the H

b) the H is indebted to the S
c) the S expresses regret for an act regarded as detrimental to the H
d) the S is about to commit an act detrimental to the H

2. Which felicity conditions need to be met with for warnings to be successfully

performed?

a) the S is able to predict some oncoming event which may be

detrimental to the H
b) the H is reluctant to believe an oncoming event may have a negative
impact upon their life
c) the H is unable to clearly anticipate the harmful consequences of
some oncoming event
d) the S believes they know something in relation to some uncoming
event which the H does not know.

3. Identify whether each of the following conditions given for a particular speech act is
a felicity condition or a sincerity condition, and be able to explain why.
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a. apologizing: the thing apologized for must have been detrimental to the interlocutor
b. apologizing: the speaker feels responsible for the thing apologized for
c. accusing: the speaker must think that the person accused actually did the deed
d. accusing: the speaker is aware that something harmful, illegal, etc., has occurred
e. offering: the hearer must not already have the thing that is offered
f. offering: the speaker wants to give the thing offered to the hearer
g. congratulating: the hearer has either accomplished something good, or something good has
happened to her
h. congratulating: the speaker thinks the event accomplished by the hearer is very good or
noteworthy
i. thanking: the hearer(s) must have done something beneficial to the speaker
j. thanking: the speaker approves of what the hearer(s) has done for him/her