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Contested slurs : Delimiting the linguistic community
Bolinger, Renee
Bolinger, Renee
Author
Abstract
Sometimes speakers within a linguistic community use a term that they do not conceptualize as a slur, but which other members of that community do. Sometimes these speakers are ignorant or naïve, but not always. This article explores a puzzle raised when some speakers stubbornly maintain that a contested term t is not derogatory. Because the semantic content of a term depends on the language, to say that their use of t is semantically derogatory despite their claims and intentions, we must individuate languages in a way that counts them as speaking our language L, assigns t a determinately derogatory content in L, and still accommodates the other features of slurs’ linguistic profile. Given the difficulty of doing this, there is some reason to give a non-semantic analysis of the derogatory aspect of slurs. The author suggests that rather than dismissing the stubborn as semantically incompetent, we would do better to appeal to expected uptake as moral reasons for the stubborn to adjust their linguistic practices.
Keywords
slurs, disagreement, derogatory terms, linguistic community
Date
2020
Type
Journal article
Journal
Grazer Philosophische Studien
Book
Volume
97
Issue
1
Page Range
11-30
Article Number
ACU Department
Dianoia Institute of Philosophy
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
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Source URL
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Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled