本书提出的"述谓句"与"施事句"区分学说和言语行为理论极具建设性，是奥斯汀对哲学和语言学的原创性和较为性贡献。前者对法哲学和语言伦理学的研究有重要影响；后者经过一些语言学者的发扬光大，成为语言哲学的重要理论之一，在文学研究、社会语言学、语言交际理论等领域有着经久不衰的影响。
I Performatives and Constatives 1
II Conditions for Happy Performatives 12
III Infelicities: Misfires 25
IV Infelicities: Abuses 39
V Possible Criteria of Performatives 53
VI Explicit Performatives 67
VII Explicit Performative Verbs 83
VIII Locutionary, Illocutionary, and Perlocutionary Acts 94
IX Distinctions between Illocutionary and Perlocutionary Acts 109
X ‘In saying…’ v. ‘By saying…’ 121
XI Statements, Performatives, and Illocutionary Force 133
XII Classes of Illocutionary Force 148
Appendix 165
Index 169
