Edwin L. Battistella
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195172485
- eISBN:
- 9780199788187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172485.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language
This chapter explores the relativity of vocabulary choice. Its main goals are both to examine how some words are bad, and to reinforce the view that effective usage is less a matter of permanent ...
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This chapter explores the relativity of vocabulary choice. Its main goals are both to examine how some words are bad, and to reinforce the view that effective usage is less a matter of permanent fixed traditions than it is a matter of flexible and contextual conventions. Topics discussed include cursing in the media and the arts, offensive language, bad words as social construction, slang as bad language, and political correctness.Less
This chapter explores the relativity of vocabulary choice. Its main goals are both to examine how some words are bad, and to reinforce the view that effective usage is less a matter of permanent fixed traditions than it is a matter of flexible and contextual conventions. Topics discussed include cursing in the media and the arts, offensive language, bad words as social construction, slang as bad language, and political correctness.
Edwin L. Battistella
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195172485
- eISBN:
- 9780199788187
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172485.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language
Are pronunciations such as cawfee and chawklit bad English? Is slang improper? Is it incorrect to mix English and Spanish, as in Yo quiero Taco Bell? Can you write “Who do you trust?” rather than ...
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Are pronunciations such as cawfee and chawklit bad English? Is slang improper? Is it incorrect to mix English and Spanish, as in Yo quiero Taco Bell? Can you write “Who do you trust?” rather than “Whom do you trust?” This book looks at traditional notions of bad language and argues that they are often based in sterile conventionality. Examining grammar and style, cursing, slang, political correctness, regional dialects, ethnic dialects, foreign accents, and language mixing, this book discusses the strong feelings evoked by language variation, from objections to pronunciation, to complaints about bilingual education. It explains the natural desire for uniformity in writing and speaking, and traces the association of mainstream norms to ideas about refinement, intelligence, education, character, national unity, and political values. The book argues that none of these qualities is inherently connected to language. It is tempting but wrong to think of slang, dialects, and nonstandard grammar as simply breaking the rules of good English. Instead, we should view language as made up of alternative forms of orderliness adopted by speakers depending on their purpose. Thus, we can study the structure and context of nonstandard language in order to illuminate and enrich traditional forms of language, and make policy decisions based on an informed engagement.Less
Are pronunciations such as cawfee and chawklit bad English? Is slang improper? Is it incorrect to mix English and Spanish, as in Yo quiero Taco Bell? Can you write “Who do you trust?” rather than “Whom do you trust?” This book looks at traditional notions of bad language and argues that they are often based in sterile conventionality. Examining grammar and style, cursing, slang, political correctness, regional dialects, ethnic dialects, foreign accents, and language mixing, this book discusses the strong feelings evoked by language variation, from objections to pronunciation, to complaints about bilingual education. It explains the natural desire for uniformity in writing and speaking, and traces the association of mainstream norms to ideas about refinement, intelligence, education, character, national unity, and political values. The book argues that none of these qualities is inherently connected to language. It is tempting but wrong to think of slang, dialects, and nonstandard grammar as simply breaking the rules of good English. Instead, we should view language as made up of alternative forms of orderliness adopted by speakers depending on their purpose. Thus, we can study the structure and context of nonstandard language in order to illuminate and enrich traditional forms of language, and make policy decisions based on an informed engagement.
Dan Moller
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190863241
- eISBN:
- 9780190863272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190863241.003.0015
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
Political correctness plays an important role in debates about poverty, work, and desert, and thus in debates about libertarianism. This chapter shows that there are legitimate reasons to uphold ...
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Political correctness plays an important role in debates about poverty, work, and desert, and thus in debates about libertarianism. This chapter shows that there are legitimate reasons to uphold norms against impugning the public status of historically victimized communities, which is central to political correctness. However, upholding such norms also incurs costs, meaning that political correctness often confronts us with dilemmas. These costs are not merely expressive but crucially involve a form of collective irrationality. This manifests itself in Orwellian discourse in how we use terms like “diversity,” in the analysis of causal structures like the attribution of airline accidents that we are reluctant to associate with stereotypes, and in backfire, as when Europeans are reluctant to discuss problems with the project of a currency union.Less
Political correctness plays an important role in debates about poverty, work, and desert, and thus in debates about libertarianism. This chapter shows that there are legitimate reasons to uphold norms against impugning the public status of historically victimized communities, which is central to political correctness. However, upholding such norms also incurs costs, meaning that political correctness often confronts us with dilemmas. These costs are not merely expressive but crucially involve a form of collective irrationality. This manifests itself in Orwellian discourse in how we use terms like “diversity,” in the analysis of causal structures like the attribution of airline accidents that we are reluctant to associate with stereotypes, and in backfire, as when Europeans are reluctant to discuss problems with the project of a currency union.
Benjamin R. Barber
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195091540
- eISBN:
- 9780199854172
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195091540.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Political History
This book sets a new agenda for the debate over education in America. It argues that both sides of the current debate—the elitist, anti-democratic conservatives and the radical champions of political ...
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This book sets a new agenda for the debate over education in America. It argues that both sides of the current debate—the elitist, anti-democratic conservatives and the radical champions of political correctness—have missed the point. The book argues that rather than arguing over who should be taught, what should be taught, and how it should be paid for, education must be addressed as the well-spring of democracy in the United States. Education should engender in students a commitment to community service, the literacy to live in a civil society, the competence to participate in democratic communities, the ability to think critically and deliberately in a pluralistic world, and the empathy to help people to understand their fellow citizens.Less
This book sets a new agenda for the debate over education in America. It argues that both sides of the current debate—the elitist, anti-democratic conservatives and the radical champions of political correctness—have missed the point. The book argues that rather than arguing over who should be taught, what should be taught, and how it should be paid for, education must be addressed as the well-spring of democracy in the United States. Education should engender in students a commitment to community service, the literacy to live in a civil society, the competence to participate in democratic communities, the ability to think critically and deliberately in a pluralistic world, and the empathy to help people to understand their fellow citizens.
Abdou Filali-Ansary and Sikeena Karmali Ahmed
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748639694
- eISBN:
- 9780748653195
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748639694.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Current popular and academic discussions make certain assumptions regarding Islam and its lack of compatibility with pluralism. Some notable liberal thinkers have even argued that pluralism itself is ...
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Current popular and academic discussions make certain assumptions regarding Islam and its lack of compatibility with pluralism. Some notable liberal thinkers have even argued that pluralism itself is inherently antithetical to Islam. This volume addresses these assumptions by bringing clarity to some of their key suppositions and conjectures. It seeks to go beyond the parameters of political correctness by engaging in a dialogue that refutes these postulations in a direct, frontal debate. In this volume scholars from around the world explore notions of pluralism, discussing the broad spectrum of its relevance and application to modern-day societies, from secularism and multiculturalism to democracy, globalization, and the pivotal role of civil society.Less
Current popular and academic discussions make certain assumptions regarding Islam and its lack of compatibility with pluralism. Some notable liberal thinkers have even argued that pluralism itself is inherently antithetical to Islam. This volume addresses these assumptions by bringing clarity to some of their key suppositions and conjectures. It seeks to go beyond the parameters of political correctness by engaging in a dialogue that refutes these postulations in a direct, frontal debate. In this volume scholars from around the world explore notions of pluralism, discussing the broad spectrum of its relevance and application to modern-day societies, from secularism and multiculturalism to democracy, globalization, and the pivotal role of civil society.
Michael S. Gorham
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452628
- eISBN:
- 9780801470578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452628.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Russian Politics
This introductory chapter begins by comparing the Russian term politkonkretnost (“polit-concreteness”) with the English “political correctness.” Both terms share two assumptions central to this ...
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This introductory chapter begins by comparing the Russian term politkonkretnost (“polit-concreteness”) with the English “political correctness.” Both terms share two assumptions central to this book's study: that language not only reflects but also shapes perception, identity, and reality; and that language, culture, and politics are closely intertwined and mutually dependent on one another for meaning. Furthermore, the link between language change and politics is particularly critical during times of radical social change. This book thus examines the late- and post-Soviet political culture through the lens of language. The rest of the chapter outlines the methodological tools and framework best suited for this study.Less
This introductory chapter begins by comparing the Russian term politkonkretnost (“polit-concreteness”) with the English “political correctness.” Both terms share two assumptions central to this book's study: that language not only reflects but also shapes perception, identity, and reality; and that language, culture, and politics are closely intertwined and mutually dependent on one another for meaning. Furthermore, the link between language change and politics is particularly critical during times of radical social change. This book thus examines the late- and post-Soviet political culture through the lens of language. The rest of the chapter outlines the methodological tools and framework best suited for this study.
Paul A. Cantor
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780813140827
- eISBN:
- 9780813141299
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813140827.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Chapter Six defends one of the most offensive shows in television history—South Park—against its many critics. It argues that the vulgarity, obscenity, and blasphemy of the show have deep roots in a ...
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Chapter Six defends one of the most offensive shows in television history—South Park—against its many critics. It argues that the vulgarity, obscenity, and blasphemy of the show have deep roots in a tradition of philosophical comedy that stretches back to such figures as Aristophanes, Rabelais, and Mark Twain. Comedy is by nature transgressive, and South Park derives its bite and its energy from the way it violates contemporary norms of political correctness. The chapter focuses on episodes of South Park that defend large corporations against the charge that they compete unfairly. Instead, the show suggests that small businesses enlist government on their side to ban outside competition and thereby to restrict consumer choice artificially. The chapter analyzes South Park as consciously libertarian in its viewpoint; the show rejects both liberals and conservatives insofar as they seek to restrict freedom.Less
Chapter Six defends one of the most offensive shows in television history—South Park—against its many critics. It argues that the vulgarity, obscenity, and blasphemy of the show have deep roots in a tradition of philosophical comedy that stretches back to such figures as Aristophanes, Rabelais, and Mark Twain. Comedy is by nature transgressive, and South Park derives its bite and its energy from the way it violates contemporary norms of political correctness. The chapter focuses on episodes of South Park that defend large corporations against the charge that they compete unfairly. Instead, the show suggests that small businesses enlist government on their side to ban outside competition and thereby to restrict consumer choice artificially. The chapter analyzes South Park as consciously libertarian in its viewpoint; the show rejects both liberals and conservatives insofar as they seek to restrict freedom.
Jon B. Gould
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226305530
- eISBN:
- 9780226305134
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226305134.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Opponents of speech codes often argue that liberal academics use the codes to advance an agenda of political correctness. But this book, based on an enormous amount of empirical evidence, reveals ...
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Opponents of speech codes often argue that liberal academics use the codes to advance an agenda of political correctness. But this book, based on an enormous amount of empirical evidence, reveals that the real reasons for their growth are to be found in the pragmatic, almost utilitarian, considerations of college administrators. Instituting hate speech policy was often a symbolic response taken by university leaders to reassure campus constituencies of their commitment against intolerance. In an academic version of “keeping up with the Joneses,” some schools created hate speech codes to remain within what they saw as the mainstream of higher education. Only a relatively small number of colleges crafted codes out of deep commitment to their merits. Although college speech codes have been overturned by the courts, this book argues that their rise has still had a profound influence on curtailing speech in other institutions such as the media and has also shaped mass opinion and common understandings of constitutional norms. Ultimately, the book contends, this kind of informal law can have just as much power as the Constitution.Less
Opponents of speech codes often argue that liberal academics use the codes to advance an agenda of political correctness. But this book, based on an enormous amount of empirical evidence, reveals that the real reasons for their growth are to be found in the pragmatic, almost utilitarian, considerations of college administrators. Instituting hate speech policy was often a symbolic response taken by university leaders to reassure campus constituencies of their commitment against intolerance. In an academic version of “keeping up with the Joneses,” some schools created hate speech codes to remain within what they saw as the mainstream of higher education. Only a relatively small number of colleges crafted codes out of deep commitment to their merits. Although college speech codes have been overturned by the courts, this book argues that their rise has still had a profound influence on curtailing speech in other institutions such as the media and has also shaped mass opinion and common understandings of constitutional norms. Ultimately, the book contends, this kind of informal law can have just as much power as the Constitution.
David Church
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748699100
- eISBN:
- 9781474408578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748699100.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
By internalizing a blend of ironic distance and earnest appreciation, retrosploitation films tend toward pastiche's evaluatively neutral position between parody and homage—an aesthetic ambivalence ...
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By internalizing a blend of ironic distance and earnest appreciation, retrosploitation films tend toward pastiche's evaluatively neutral position between parody and homage—an aesthetic ambivalence matched by a political ambivalence in their fan reception. This middle position toward their historical referents opens the question of to what degree these contemporary films may also imitate the outdated political attitudes found in past exploitation cinema. Yet, when some viewers excuse the anachronistic political incorrectness of retrosploitation films as a temporary escape from critical engagement with contemporary attitudes, others maintain their fan-cultural appeals to connoisseurship by remaining attuned to the political work that these ostensibly regressive films do. Nostalgia's disjuncture between past and present can thus call attention to unresolved social inequalities, particularly if these films encourage us to identify with the viewing expectations of past audiences. Using textual readings and fan responses, this chapter surveys the representational politics in the retrosploitation cycle and its reception, finding openings for more progressive understandings of these films as well.Less
By internalizing a blend of ironic distance and earnest appreciation, retrosploitation films tend toward pastiche's evaluatively neutral position between parody and homage—an aesthetic ambivalence matched by a political ambivalence in their fan reception. This middle position toward their historical referents opens the question of to what degree these contemporary films may also imitate the outdated political attitudes found in past exploitation cinema. Yet, when some viewers excuse the anachronistic political incorrectness of retrosploitation films as a temporary escape from critical engagement with contemporary attitudes, others maintain their fan-cultural appeals to connoisseurship by remaining attuned to the political work that these ostensibly regressive films do. Nostalgia's disjuncture between past and present can thus call attention to unresolved social inequalities, particularly if these films encourage us to identify with the viewing expectations of past audiences. Using textual readings and fan responses, this chapter surveys the representational politics in the retrosploitation cycle and its reception, finding openings for more progressive understandings of these films as well.
Cary Nelson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814758595
- eISBN:
- 9780814759059
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814758595.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter joins the effort to break the Left's relative silence on the issue of political correctness and assesses its impact on academic freedom and the faculty. Where the Left is concerned, as ...
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This chapter joins the effort to break the Left's relative silence on the issue of political correctness and assesses its impact on academic freedom and the faculty. Where the Left is concerned, as cultural and political history tells us, today's conflicts are only the latest episodes in a long-running, multigenerational, now multimillennial story that entails fractious disputes about one's right to claim a place on the certified Left. For David Horowitz, an academician, there is no doubt that the Left reigns supreme and freely terrorizes everyone. But people on the Left are just as likely to feel besieged. Some of the progressive faculty attacked in Horowitz's book The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America (2006) feel endangered by increased scrutiny. Untenured and part-time faculty members feel vulnerable when they engage in progressive advocacy. Anecdotal accounts suggest that self-censorship has returned to shape faculty behavior.Less
This chapter joins the effort to break the Left's relative silence on the issue of political correctness and assesses its impact on academic freedom and the faculty. Where the Left is concerned, as cultural and political history tells us, today's conflicts are only the latest episodes in a long-running, multigenerational, now multimillennial story that entails fractious disputes about one's right to claim a place on the certified Left. For David Horowitz, an academician, there is no doubt that the Left reigns supreme and freely terrorizes everyone. But people on the Left are just as likely to feel besieged. Some of the progressive faculty attacked in Horowitz's book The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America (2006) feel endangered by increased scrutiny. Untenured and part-time faculty members feel vulnerable when they engage in progressive advocacy. Anecdotal accounts suggest that self-censorship has returned to shape faculty behavior.
Mark Monmonier
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226534657
- eISBN:
- 9780226534640
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226534640.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
Brassiere Hills, Alaska. Mollys Nipple, Utah. Outhouse Draw, Nevada. In the early twentieth century, it was common for towns and geographical features to have salacious, bawdy, and even derogatory ...
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Brassiere Hills, Alaska. Mollys Nipple, Utah. Outhouse Draw, Nevada. In the early twentieth century, it was common for towns and geographical features to have salacious, bawdy, and even derogatory names. In the age before political correctness, mapmakers readily accepted any local preference for place names, prizing accurate representation over standards of decorum. Thus, summits such as Squaw Tit—which towered above valleys in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California—found their way into the cartographic annals. Later, when sanctions prohibited local use of racially, ethnically, and scatalogically offensive toponyms, town names like Jap Valley, California, were erased from the national and cultural map forever. This book probes this little-known chapter in American cartographic history by considering the intersecting efforts to computerize mapmaking, standardize geographic names, and respond to public concern over ethnically offensive appellations. Interweaving cartographic history with tales of politics and power, the author locates his story within the past and present struggles of mapmakers to create an orderly process for naming that avoids confusion, preserves history, and serves different political aims. Anchored by a diverse selection of naming controversies—in the United States, Canada, Cyprus, Israel, Palestine, and Antarctica; on the ocean floor and the surface of the moon; and in other parts of our solar system—this book richly reveals the map's role as a mediated portrait of the cultural landscape. And unlike other books that consider place names, this is the first to reflect on both the real cartographic and political imbroglios they engender.Less
Brassiere Hills, Alaska. Mollys Nipple, Utah. Outhouse Draw, Nevada. In the early twentieth century, it was common for towns and geographical features to have salacious, bawdy, and even derogatory names. In the age before political correctness, mapmakers readily accepted any local preference for place names, prizing accurate representation over standards of decorum. Thus, summits such as Squaw Tit—which towered above valleys in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California—found their way into the cartographic annals. Later, when sanctions prohibited local use of racially, ethnically, and scatalogically offensive toponyms, town names like Jap Valley, California, were erased from the national and cultural map forever. This book probes this little-known chapter in American cartographic history by considering the intersecting efforts to computerize mapmaking, standardize geographic names, and respond to public concern over ethnically offensive appellations. Interweaving cartographic history with tales of politics and power, the author locates his story within the past and present struggles of mapmakers to create an orderly process for naming that avoids confusion, preserves history, and serves different political aims. Anchored by a diverse selection of naming controversies—in the United States, Canada, Cyprus, Israel, Palestine, and Antarctica; on the ocean floor and the surface of the moon; and in other parts of our solar system—this book richly reveals the map's role as a mediated portrait of the cultural landscape. And unlike other books that consider place names, this is the first to reflect on both the real cartographic and political imbroglios they engender.
Peter N. Stearns
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780252041402
- eISBN:
- 9780252050008
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252041402.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Psychology and Interaction
This chapter deals with the continuation of important efforts to reduce shame and shaming, particularly in American society over the past half century. But it also notes important and unexpected ...
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This chapter deals with the continuation of important efforts to reduce shame and shaming, particularly in American society over the past half century. But it also notes important and unexpected countercurrents, ranging from shame-based punishments from some American courts to the wide use of shaming in partisanship and on social media.Less
This chapter deals with the continuation of important efforts to reduce shame and shaming, particularly in American society over the past half century. But it also notes important and unexpected countercurrents, ranging from shame-based punishments from some American courts to the wide use of shaming in partisanship and on social media.
Dan Moller
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190863241
- eISBN:
- 9780190863272
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190863241.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This book defends libertarianism and more broadly a classical liberal view of political economy. It is often assumed that libertarianism depends on thinking that property rights are absolute, or on ...
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This book defends libertarianism and more broadly a classical liberal view of political economy. It is often assumed that libertarianism depends on thinking that property rights are absolute, or on fetishizing individual liberty. This book argues that, on the contrary, the foundations of libertarianism can be found in widely shared, everyday moral beliefs–particularly in strictures against shifting our burdens onto others. The core of libertarianism, on this interpretation, lies not in an exaggerated sense of our rights against other people, but in modesty about what we can demand from them. The book then connects these philosophical arguments with related ideas in economics, history, and politics. Among the questions addressed are what the moral basis of private property is; how to think about property in a service economy; what the significance of luck is in determining social outcomes; what the history of capitalism tells us about free markets; whether libertarians should support reparations for slavery; what role political correctness plays in shaping policy debates; and whether classical liberals should favor incremental change over utopian policy shifts.Less
This book defends libertarianism and more broadly a classical liberal view of political economy. It is often assumed that libertarianism depends on thinking that property rights are absolute, or on fetishizing individual liberty. This book argues that, on the contrary, the foundations of libertarianism can be found in widely shared, everyday moral beliefs–particularly in strictures against shifting our burdens onto others. The core of libertarianism, on this interpretation, lies not in an exaggerated sense of our rights against other people, but in modesty about what we can demand from them. The book then connects these philosophical arguments with related ideas in economics, history, and politics. Among the questions addressed are what the moral basis of private property is; how to think about property in a service economy; what the significance of luck is in determining social outcomes; what the history of capitalism tells us about free markets; whether libertarians should support reparations for slavery; what role political correctness plays in shaping policy debates; and whether classical liberals should favor incremental change over utopian policy shifts.
Mary Kate McGowan
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198791508
- eISBN:
- 9780191868450
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198791508.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Free speech and academic freedom are vitally important values. According to growing media reports, however, they are under attack and they are under attack in the exact place where they ought to be ...
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Free speech and academic freedom are vitally important values. According to growing media reports, however, they are under attack and they are under attack in the exact place where they ought to be most protected: in our institutions of higher learning. This chapter explores two phenomena alleged to silence people on academic campuses: politically correct culture and microaggressions. These sorts of silencing involve a person deciding against speaking and deciding this because of the speaker’s beliefs about how the audience would respond to her speaking. As this chapter will show, not all cases of choosing to remain silent are on a par; the issues are complex but each sort of these two sorts of academic silencing is a real possibility.Less
Free speech and academic freedom are vitally important values. According to growing media reports, however, they are under attack and they are under attack in the exact place where they ought to be most protected: in our institutions of higher learning. This chapter explores two phenomena alleged to silence people on academic campuses: politically correct culture and microaggressions. These sorts of silencing involve a person deciding against speaking and deciding this because of the speaker’s beliefs about how the audience would respond to her speaking. As this chapter will show, not all cases of choosing to remain silent are on a par; the issues are complex but each sort of these two sorts of academic silencing is a real possibility.
Linda C. McClain
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- March 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190877200
- eISBN:
- 9780190063726
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190877200.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Human Rights and Immigration
The chapter recaps the book’s basic claim that in the United States, there is both strong agreement over condemning bigotry as inconsistent with American values and sharp (often partisan) ...
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The chapter recaps the book’s basic claim that in the United States, there is both strong agreement over condemning bigotry as inconsistent with American values and sharp (often partisan) disagreement over bigotry’s forms, and who has the moral authority to call it out. Charges of bigotry are answered with charges of political correctness and countercharges of bigotry. It illustrates these claims with the example of a recent Congressional resolution condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other forms of bigotry. The book then offers some lessons about the rhetoric of bigotry and its puzzles based on prior chapters’ examination of controversies over marriage and civil rights law. It applies those lessons to ongoing conflicts over the legal rights of transgender persons. It then considers why the rhetoric of bigotry is not more common in discussing sexism and misogyny. Finally, it evaluates whether and when it is useful—even imperative—to call out bigotry.Less
The chapter recaps the book’s basic claim that in the United States, there is both strong agreement over condemning bigotry as inconsistent with American values and sharp (often partisan) disagreement over bigotry’s forms, and who has the moral authority to call it out. Charges of bigotry are answered with charges of political correctness and countercharges of bigotry. It illustrates these claims with the example of a recent Congressional resolution condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other forms of bigotry. The book then offers some lessons about the rhetoric of bigotry and its puzzles based on prior chapters’ examination of controversies over marriage and civil rights law. It applies those lessons to ongoing conflicts over the legal rights of transgender persons. It then considers why the rhetoric of bigotry is not more common in discussing sexism and misogyny. Finally, it evaluates whether and when it is useful—even imperative—to call out bigotry.
A. David Napier
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226568126
- eISBN:
- 9780226568140
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226568140.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This book argues that the central assumption of immunology—that we survive through the recognition and elimination of non-self—has become a defining concept of the modern age. Tracing this ...
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This book argues that the central assumption of immunology—that we survive through the recognition and elimination of non-self—has become a defining concept of the modern age. Tracing this immunological understanding of self and other through an incredibly diverse array of venues, from medical research to legal and military strategies and the electronic revolution, the author shows how this defensive way of looking at the world not only destroys diversity but also eliminates the possibility of truly engaging difference, thereby impoverishing our culture and foreclosing tremendous opportunities for personal growth. To illustrate these destructive consequences, he likens the current craze for embracing diversity and the use of politically correct speech to a cultural potluck to which we each bring different dishes, but at which no one can eat unless they abide by the same rules. Similarly, loaning money to developing nations serves as a tool both to make the peoples in those nations more like us and to maintain them in the nonthreatening status of distant dependents. To break free of the resulting downward spiral of homogenization and self-focus, the author suggests that we instead adopt a new defining concept based on embryology, in which development and self-growth take place through a process of incorporation and transformation. In this effort he suggests that we have much to learn from non-Western peoples, such as the Balinese, whose ritual practices require them to take on the considerable risk of injecting into their selves the potential dangers of otherness—and in so doing ultimately strengthen themselves as well as their society.Less
This book argues that the central assumption of immunology—that we survive through the recognition and elimination of non-self—has become a defining concept of the modern age. Tracing this immunological understanding of self and other through an incredibly diverse array of venues, from medical research to legal and military strategies and the electronic revolution, the author shows how this defensive way of looking at the world not only destroys diversity but also eliminates the possibility of truly engaging difference, thereby impoverishing our culture and foreclosing tremendous opportunities for personal growth. To illustrate these destructive consequences, he likens the current craze for embracing diversity and the use of politically correct speech to a cultural potluck to which we each bring different dishes, but at which no one can eat unless they abide by the same rules. Similarly, loaning money to developing nations serves as a tool both to make the peoples in those nations more like us and to maintain them in the nonthreatening status of distant dependents. To break free of the resulting downward spiral of homogenization and self-focus, the author suggests that we instead adopt a new defining concept based on embryology, in which development and self-growth take place through a process of incorporation and transformation. In this effort he suggests that we have much to learn from non-Western peoples, such as the Balinese, whose ritual practices require them to take on the considerable risk of injecting into their selves the potential dangers of otherness—and in so doing ultimately strengthen themselves as well as their society.
David C. Rose
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199330720
- eISBN:
- 9780190918712
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199330720.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This chapter explains why as free market democracies grow and support ever more mass flourishing, both the abuse and the neglect problems associated with the cultural commons intensify. As the abuse ...
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This chapter explains why as free market democracies grow and support ever more mass flourishing, both the abuse and the neglect problems associated with the cultural commons intensify. As the abuse problem gets harder to recognize, the neglect problem worsens even further. Falling trust opens the door to redistributive and regulatory favoritism which, in turn, actuates political tribalism that is shown to reduce trust in the democratic system. The theory of market failure is shown to produce an important distinction in the proper role of government that helps avoid this downward spiral whereby democracy sows the seeds of its own demise. This has important implications for the emergence of new beliefs that are deleterious to high-trust societies and that allow the proliferation of corruption and points to a civic role for trust-producing moral beliefs.Less
This chapter explains why as free market democracies grow and support ever more mass flourishing, both the abuse and the neglect problems associated with the cultural commons intensify. As the abuse problem gets harder to recognize, the neglect problem worsens even further. Falling trust opens the door to redistributive and regulatory favoritism which, in turn, actuates political tribalism that is shown to reduce trust in the democratic system. The theory of market failure is shown to produce an important distinction in the proper role of government that helps avoid this downward spiral whereby democracy sows the seeds of its own demise. This has important implications for the emergence of new beliefs that are deleterious to high-trust societies and that allow the proliferation of corruption and points to a civic role for trust-producing moral beliefs.
Bruno Maçães
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- December 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197528341
- eISBN:
- 9780197539842
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197528341.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter assesses whether America deserves to be placed alongside those Asian societies which, for all their progress, remain more or less shackled by tradition. The United States has been for ...
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This chapter assesses whether America deserves to be placed alongside those Asian societies which, for all their progress, remain more or less shackled by tradition. The United States has been for more than a hundred years the very image of modernity. In the postwar decades, it appealed to European intellectuals such as Sartre on account of its deracinated life. The music, the literature, the architecture of those years were an extravaganza of countercultural passion, breaking with every convention. If people now feel that Americans are after all too conventional, there is reason to suspect that something else is happening and that their love affair with religion, guns, and the death penalty is to be explained from sources other than the persistence of traditional structures. The chapter offers an alternative explanation, looking in turn at these three peculiarities of American culture. It also considers an element of contemporary American life where differences with an older European sensibility seem clear enough: political correctness. Ultimately, one can see that a distinctive mark cuts across American experience as a whole, becoming more visible in those areas where it breaks away from its European past. One may call it the marker of a new civilization.Less
This chapter assesses whether America deserves to be placed alongside those Asian societies which, for all their progress, remain more or less shackled by tradition. The United States has been for more than a hundred years the very image of modernity. In the postwar decades, it appealed to European intellectuals such as Sartre on account of its deracinated life. The music, the literature, the architecture of those years were an extravaganza of countercultural passion, breaking with every convention. If people now feel that Americans are after all too conventional, there is reason to suspect that something else is happening and that their love affair with religion, guns, and the death penalty is to be explained from sources other than the persistence of traditional structures. The chapter offers an alternative explanation, looking in turn at these three peculiarities of American culture. It also considers an element of contemporary American life where differences with an older European sensibility seem clear enough: political correctness. Ultimately, one can see that a distinctive mark cuts across American experience as a whole, becoming more visible in those areas where it breaks away from its European past. One may call it the marker of a new civilization.
Julee T. Flood and Terry L. Leap
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501728952
- eISBN:
- 9781501728969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501728952.003.0005
- Subject:
- Education, Higher and Further Education
Two key issues stemming from the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution are discussed: freedom of speech and academic freedom. These two ideals are largely non-existent for faculty members working ...
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Two key issues stemming from the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution are discussed: freedom of speech and academic freedom. These two ideals are largely non-existent for faculty members working at private colleges, and universities and they are probably more restricted than faculty at public institutions might imagine. This chapter focuses on U.S. Supreme Court cases (e.g., Garcetti v Ceballos) as well as AAUP definitions of academic freedom. Defamation and other free speech issues are also discussed.Less
Two key issues stemming from the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution are discussed: freedom of speech and academic freedom. These two ideals are largely non-existent for faculty members working at private colleges, and universities and they are probably more restricted than faculty at public institutions might imagine. This chapter focuses on U.S. Supreme Court cases (e.g., Garcetti v Ceballos) as well as AAUP definitions of academic freedom. Defamation and other free speech issues are also discussed.
Laurence Goldstein
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199664986
- eISBN:
- 9780191748530
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199664986.003.0010
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
It is generally tedious and unnecessary to be fully explicit in what we say. So it is common practice to speak loosely, omitting words in the confident and justified expectation that our audience ...
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It is generally tedious and unnecessary to be fully explicit in what we say. So it is common practice to speak loosely, omitting words in the confident and justified expectation that our audience will grasp our meaning. Kent Bach, who identified this phenomenon, points out that speaking loosely aids efficiency in conversation and is so common as to have passed unnoticed. Insufficient philosophical attention is paid to what is implicit. I argue that a diversity of problems become immediately tractable when due account is taken of what is omitted when we speak loosely. Among these problems are the ancient paradox of the hooded man, Kripke’s puzzle about belief, the Sorites paradox, the naivety of naïve set theory, political correctness, and fundamentalism.Less
It is generally tedious and unnecessary to be fully explicit in what we say. So it is common practice to speak loosely, omitting words in the confident and justified expectation that our audience will grasp our meaning. Kent Bach, who identified this phenomenon, points out that speaking loosely aids efficiency in conversation and is so common as to have passed unnoticed. Insufficient philosophical attention is paid to what is implicit. I argue that a diversity of problems become immediately tractable when due account is taken of what is omitted when we speak loosely. Among these problems are the ancient paradox of the hooded man, Kripke’s puzzle about belief, the Sorites paradox, the naivety of naïve set theory, political correctness, and fundamentalism.
