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How to Do Things with Words, compiled by J. L. Austin, is a brilliant collection of lectures given by William James, one of the most famous philosophers of the world. Summary of the Book William James was born in America. He was a famous philosopher and psychologist and was also proficient as a physician. He was the first ever educationalist who offered an official course in psychology in the United States. William is referred to as the Father of American Psychology. His works inspired many a great mind including Bertrand Russell, Edmund Husserl, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Richard Rorty and others. In How to Do Things with Words, J. L. Austin, a philosopher of language himself, brings to us the best of William’s lectures based on many intriguing subjects. William strongly propounded pragmatism, functional psychology and radical empiricism. About J. L. Austin John Langshaw Austin was born in Britain. He was a famous philosopher of language. His chief interests, apart from philosophy of language, were philosophy of mind, perception and ethics. His pioneering contribution to ideas such as performative utterance and the development of the theory of speech acts are remembered to the present day. His works The Meaning of a Word, Sense and Sensibilia, Philosophical Papers, A Plea for Excuses and Other Minds are also very popular.