Deliberative speech acts: An interactional approach

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to offer an account of deliberative dialogues within the framework of an Austinian speech act theory. My analysis focuses on a characteristic aspect of deliberative dialogues, namely, turn-taking organization, with the aim of throwing some light on their interactional dynamics as a basis for collective action. The exploration tries to approach the issue by suggesting how and to what extent deliberation, as a dialogical argumentative practice, can be accounted for with the tools of speech act theory.