Words of dismissal are everywhere. Discussions are becoming harder as nearly every argument has a fitting word of dismissal. Some of my favourites are: fascism, communism, racism, mysogyny, islamophobia, homophobia, anti-vaxx, etc.
I was reading Gabriel Marcel and he was already (in 1950) noting how the word "democracy" had been debased and was being used to achieve its opposite. If I get the time today I will post the quote, if for no other reason than to emphasize how long this has been going on. Before Marcel, certainly.
"What other words of dismissal are there?" One that is widely used is "problematic". You may wave away any issue you want silenced by dismissing the assertions or hypothesis of your opponent as "problematic". This is a weird use of the word, because in fact only problematic propositions are worth debating. But the current culture has a totalitarian streak that hates any sign of real controversy.
There's a painting by Ivan Kramskoi - Christ in the Widerness. First came across the image in the 70s while serving in the RAF in Germany. It was in what was known then as a 'hiring'. Service personnel could rent German owned flats and houses. It was on the wall of a friend I used to babysit for. I was fascinated and deeply moved. I wanted to know what was going through his mind. Wonderful painting.
Words of dismissal are everywhere. Discussions are becoming harder as nearly every argument has a fitting word of dismissal. Some of my favourites are: fascism, communism, racism, mysogyny, islamophobia, homophobia, anti-vaxx, etc.
I was reading Gabriel Marcel and he was already (in 1950) noting how the word "democracy" had been debased and was being used to achieve its opposite. If I get the time today I will post the quote, if for no other reason than to emphasize how long this has been going on. Before Marcel, certainly.
Thank you, brother for this conversation.
"What other words of dismissal are there?" One that is widely used is "problematic". You may wave away any issue you want silenced by dismissing the assertions or hypothesis of your opponent as "problematic". This is a weird use of the word, because in fact only problematic propositions are worth debating. But the current culture has a totalitarian streak that hates any sign of real controversy.
There's a painting by Ivan Kramskoi - Christ in the Widerness. First came across the image in the 70s while serving in the RAF in Germany. It was in what was known then as a 'hiring'. Service personnel could rent German owned flats and houses. It was on the wall of a friend I used to babysit for. I was fascinated and deeply moved. I wanted to know what was going through his mind. Wonderful painting.