Yiwon Kim: Moral Advising as a Speech Act

Abstract

I argue that giving moral advice is, first and foremost, an act of advising through speech: a directive speech act that invites and structures deliberation in order to guide the hearer, rather than demanding compliance or offering moral testimony. Moral advice also contrasts with commands: advice is compatible with the hearer’s autonomy, and “wears its practicality on its sleeve”. However, this raises a puzzle: if advising is a directive speech act, how can it be successful without compliance? I answer this puzzle by drawing on the distinction between locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts, identifying three types of success. This explains why moral advice can be given but not necessarily accepted, and why resistance commonly takes the form of a standing challenge: “Who are you to tell me?”