J.L. Austin
Cavell takes this real life philosopher as his starting point in the essays, because he feels an onus to defend Austin's perspective on language. Austin's ideas lead Cavell to conclude that the correct understanding of language must focus on usage and intention. Austin's theories were published in the 1950's, to mixed criticism, as most linguistic philosophies are, because the field doesn't really tend to have a strong consensus about these matters.
David Poole
The essayist takes a harsh stance against David Poole, the writer and thinker, who reviewed Wittgenstein and published an influential essay explaining those ideas. Late Wittgenstein is sincerely difficult to comprehend, to anyone and everyone, but Cavell says that David Poole's ideas are completely mistaken, as if he wanted to use Wittgenstein's ethos to promote his own ideas of language. This portion of the essay is fairly critical.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
This philosopher is historically credited as one of the most important voices in the philosophy of language. His work focused on human language as a method for examining the order of the human psyche, and he took multiple stances on various issues throughout his career, often invoking philosophies that challenge any reader, sometimes offering ideas that seem to plainly disagree with other ideas that he has offered. This work is essentially part of a genre of philosophy that seeks to properly understand Wittgenstein.
