H. P. Grice and J. L. Speranza, Disimplicature, etc.

Speranza

In virtue of what does a linguistic act count as an insult, I discuss five main approaches to this question, according to which an insult is determined by the semantic properties of the expression used; the insulter, her intention, or attitudes; the addressee and her personal standard; the features of the speech act performed; and the standard of the relevant social group. I endorse the last, objectivist account, according to which an act x counts as an insult if and only if x is assessed as demeaning when addressed at A by the standard of the relevant social group at t.