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Tackling Verbal Derogation: Linguistic Meaning, Social Meaning and Constructive Contestation

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The Political Turn in Analytic Philosophy
This chapter is in the book The Political Turn in Analytic Philosophy

Abstract

Our everyday practices are meaningful in several ways. In addition to the linguistic meanings of our terms and sentences, we attach social meanings to actions and statuses. Philosophy of language and public debates often focus on contesting morally and politically pernicious linguistic exchanges. My aim is to show that this is too little: even if we are only interested in morally and politically problematic terms, we must counteract a pernicious linguistic practice on many levels, especially on the level of its underlying social meanings. Otherwise, the critique of specific words as the most salient fruits of this practice will be futile. I trace out two paths through which pernicious social meanings feed into linguistic meanings and make the case for constructive contestations of social meanings as an alternative to criticising the use of a few highly pernicious terms in which these social meanings are manifest. My investigation into how social structures shape both social and linguistic meanings sheds further light on the ways in which social meanings enter linguistic exchanges. Moreover, it reveals that what is said in specific situations is more closely connected to our non-verbal actions than the current literature on semantics and the social sciences allows.

Abstract

Our everyday practices are meaningful in several ways. In addition to the linguistic meanings of our terms and sentences, we attach social meanings to actions and statuses. Philosophy of language and public debates often focus on contesting morally and politically pernicious linguistic exchanges. My aim is to show that this is too little: even if we are only interested in morally and politically problematic terms, we must counteract a pernicious linguistic practice on many levels, especially on the level of its underlying social meanings. Otherwise, the critique of specific words as the most salient fruits of this practice will be futile. I trace out two paths through which pernicious social meanings feed into linguistic meanings and make the case for constructive contestations of social meanings as an alternative to criticising the use of a few highly pernicious terms in which these social meanings are manifest. My investigation into how social structures shape both social and linguistic meanings sheds further light on the ways in which social meanings enter linguistic exchanges. Moreover, it reveals that what is said in specific situations is more closely connected to our non-verbal actions than the current literature on semantics and the social sciences allows.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Table of Contents VII
  4. Editor’s Introduction IX
  5. Part I: Analytic Philosophy and Social Involvement
  6. Analytic Philosophy as Philosophical Activism 1
  7. Conceptual Engineering and Neurath’s Boat: A Return to the Political Roots of Logical Empiricism 31
  8. Part II: Mind, Knowledge, and the Social World
  9. Political Epistemology 53
  10. Intellectual Vices in Conditions of Oppression: The Turn to the Political in Virtue Epistemology 77
  11. Epistemic De-Platforming 105
  12. Philosophy of Mind after Implicit Biases 135
  13. Ameliorative Inquiry in Epistemology 151
  14. Part III: Meaning, Politics, and Identity
  15. Tackling Verbal Derogation: Linguistic Meaning, Social Meaning and Constructive Contestation 173
  16. The Power to Shape Contexts: The Transmission of Descriptive and Evaluative Contents 199
  17. Hermeneutical Injustice and Conceptual Landscaping: The Benefits and Responsibilities of Expanding Conceptual Landscaping beyond Failure Reparation 211
  18. The Meaning of ‘Woman’ and the Political Turn in Philosophy of Language 229
  19. Part IV: Epistemology and Polarization
  20. Affective Polarization and Testimonial and Discursive Injustice 257
  21. Philosophical Considerations of Political Polarization 279
  22. Notes on Contributors 299
  23. Index 303
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110612318-010

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Table of Contents VII
  4. Editor’s Introduction IX
  5. Part I: Analytic Philosophy and Social Involvement
  6. Analytic Philosophy as Philosophical Activism 1
  7. Conceptual Engineering and Neurath’s Boat: A Return to the Political Roots of Logical Empiricism 31
  8. Part II: Mind, Knowledge, and the Social World
  9. Political Epistemology 53
  10. Intellectual Vices in Conditions of Oppression: The Turn to the Political in Virtue Epistemology 77
  11. Epistemic De-Platforming 105
  12. Philosophy of Mind after Implicit Biases 135
  13. Ameliorative Inquiry in Epistemology 151
  14. Part III: Meaning, Politics, and Identity
  15. Tackling Verbal Derogation: Linguistic Meaning, Social Meaning and Constructive Contestation 173
  16. The Power to Shape Contexts: The Transmission of Descriptive and Evaluative Contents 199
  17. Hermeneutical Injustice and Conceptual Landscaping: The Benefits and Responsibilities of Expanding Conceptual Landscaping beyond Failure Reparation 211
  18. The Meaning of ‘Woman’ and the Political Turn in Philosophy of Language 229
  19. Part IV: Epistemology and Polarization
  20. Affective Polarization and Testimonial and Discursive Injustice 257
  21. Philosophical Considerations of Political Polarization 279
  22. Notes on Contributors 299
  23. Index 303
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