Accusation Theory

Abstract

Accusations play a pivotal role in human communication. There seems be be some changes in the contemporary political situation. However, there is a lack of a philosophical conceptualisation that is necessary for appropriate descriptions of accusations and further philosophical scrutiny. Accustation Theory (AT) is proposed as such a theoretical framework. This paper aims (1) to present some general tools for the description of accusations as speech acts, (2) will try to understand fundamental features of accusations, (3) understand some elements of the practice of accusing, (4) will present a short overview of relevant literature and (5) outline some possible lines of further research.