Who among the following distinguished the 'constatives' from the '‘performatives'?

Correct option is A

John Austin was a British philosopher who distinguished between constatives and performatives in his book How to Do Things with Words (1962). Constatives are statements that describe facts and can be evaluated as true or false. Performatives are statements that perform an action, such as promising, marrying, or declaring war. Austin's distinction between constatives and performatives is important because it helps us to understand the different ways in which language can be used. Constatives are used to inform and to describe the world around us. Performatives are used to do things and to change the world around us.

Austin's distinction between constatives and performatives has had a profound influence on our understanding of language and its use. It has been used to study a wide range of phenomena, including law, religion, and everyday conversation.

The distinction between 'constatives' and 'performatives' was made by J.L. Austin in his seminal work How to Do Things with Words (1955-62).
Constatives: Utterances that describe a state of affairs and can be evaluated as true or false.
Performatives: Utterances that perform an action (e.g., "I promise"). These cannot be evaluated as true or false but rather as successful or unsuccessful, depending on their context.

Austin’s theory of Speech Acts has had a profound influence on linguistic philosophy, literature, and critical theory.
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Information Booster:

Speech act theory analyzes how language functions beyond mere communication.

Performatives are central to rituals, contracts, and declarations.

Judith Butler extended Austin’s ideas into gender theory, exploring gender performativity.

Stanley Fish critiqued these concepts in reader-response criticism.

Additional Knowledge:
Judith Butler: Known for her work on performativity, particularly in Gender Trouble (1990).

Stanley Fish: Focused on interpretive communities in Is There a Text in This Class?

Mary Louise Pratt: Explored linguistic and cultural interactions in Imperial Eyes.