Beyond slurs : communicating evaluative perspectives
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2015.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101526 |
| _version_ | 1826196469556707328 |
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| author | Lenehan, Rose (Rose Elizabeth) |
| author2 | Sally Haslanger. |
| author_facet | Sally Haslanger. Lenehan, Rose (Rose Elizabeth) |
| author_sort | Lenehan, Rose (Rose Elizabeth) |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2015. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:27:21Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/101526 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:27:21Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1015262019-04-12T11:21:12Z Beyond slurs : communicating evaluative perspectives Communicating evaluative perspectives Lenehan, Rose (Rose Elizabeth) Sally Haslanger. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. Linguistics and Philosophy. Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2015. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 41-43). Slurs have recently received a great deal of attention from philosophers of language. They are thought to be special in both their linguistic properties and their rhetorical effects-that is, in both what they mean and what they do. In this paper, drawing on the work of Elisabeth Camp and Rae Langton, I argue that a wide variety of speech shares the interesting features normally imputed to slurs. In using a slur, Camp argues, a speaker signals allegiance to a derogating perspective. He does not indicate merely that he believes a certain proposition; he indicates that certain features of the world are salient for him and that he experiences them as having a particular kind of disvalue. In her work on hate speech, Langton has argued that speech can be successful not only in its appeal to believe something but also in its appeal to feel or desire something. By presupposing that a hearer feels a certain way, a speaker can make it the case that she feels that way. But none of this is specific to slurs and hate speech. Non-evaluative terms can function in just the same way. When a speaker uses the expression "You're skinny" as a compliment, for example, she presupposes a particular evaluative perspective. Because the perspective is communicated as part of the not-at-issue content of her utterance, it is especially difficult for her hearers to object. The perspective can thus become taken for granted in the conversation without having been explicitly proposed or argued for. This kind of utterance doesn't merely change hearers' beliefs; it can also change their conative attitudes. And, like uses of slurs and other thick terms, it can change what we have social permission to say and do. by Rose Lenehan. S.M. 2016-03-03T21:06:45Z 2016-03-03T21:06:45Z 2015 2015 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101526 939918668 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 43 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Linguistics and Philosophy. Lenehan, Rose (Rose Elizabeth) Beyond slurs : communicating evaluative perspectives |
| title | Beyond slurs : communicating evaluative perspectives |
| title_full | Beyond slurs : communicating evaluative perspectives |
| title_fullStr | Beyond slurs : communicating evaluative perspectives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond slurs : communicating evaluative perspectives |
| title_short | Beyond slurs : communicating evaluative perspectives |
| title_sort | beyond slurs communicating evaluative perspectives |
| topic | Linguistics and Philosophy. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101526 |
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