Two Concepts of Constitutive Rules (2018) [pdf]

> For the world-to-word direction of fit we must distinguish between three kinds. For all three kinds it holds that somehow the facts in the world are adapted, in order to “fit” what is expressed by the words. One case is when the words function as a directive, as when James shouts “Carol, stop!” when he fears that his young daughter Carol will cross the busy street. This order aims at making Carol stop, and if the order is successful in the sense of “efficacious”, Carol will stop and the facts in the world fit the content of the order.

> A second form of the world-to-word direction of fit manifests itself in constitutive speech acts. Constitutive speech acts are speech acts performed with the intention to bring about a particular change through the operation of a rule or convention. They differ from directives which operate by means of a causal, rather than a rule-based, connection. Examples of constitutive speech acts are the baptism of a ship (“I hereby baptize you the Princess Victoria”), making a promise (“I promise you to be back before 8 o’clock this evening”), granting a power (“You can consider every promise made by Michal on my behalf as a promise made by me”), and the issuing of a command (as distinguished from an order).

> The third kind of world-to-word direction of fit concerns the effects of rules. Take for example the conceptual rule (the meaning postulate) that the word “rectangle” denotes quadrilaterals with four orthogonal angles. Given this rule, if something is a rectangle, it must be a quadrilateral with four orthogonal angles.