Critical Thinking #4

 Picking up where we left off---by the way, happy holidays whatever your preference and happy new year---the next section (Module 4) of the course focuses on Language.

Martin Heidegger, one of the 20th century's philosophical giants, in his early Being and Time, called language the "house of being." It's heady and complex, but here is where he claims to find the uniqueness of humans. Not ignoring communication methods among other species,  Graeber and Wengrow (The Dawn of Everything) marvel at the similarities of verbal communication across the global development of hominid species. Language is how we find and give meaning to the world around us through denotation (specific and literal) and connotation (meaning and context) usage.

Language falls into two primary categories, form and intent. The former is the structure (subject, verb, adjective, etc.) and the latter is the implied meaning behind the vocabulary used. Careless use of words can lead to confusion through what is known as vagueness and ambiguity. Examples would be "It is a pleasant day," whatever that means, and "I ran after the robber wearing my pajamas," unsure which of us is wearing a pair of my pajamas.

After we have spent time building the broad understanding, we turn our attention to descriptive features and uses of the language that shapes our world. When we can master and recognize these, we are better prepared to recognize how others use language and avoid being manipulated by their deliberate misuse, unintentional or malicious. Those features include:

Tone: the attitude or atmosphere embedded in the words.

Emotive use: language that produces emotional reactions.

Euphemism: words that soften the impact of the situation (pink slip for being fired).

Dysphemism: words that harden and inflame (terrorist for freedom fighter).

Innuendo: indirect accusation without evidence.

Loaded question: have you stopped beating your wife yet?

Weasel words: mercurial and indefinite (might help you lose weight).

Proof surrogate: implied evidence without providing it (we all know she enabled his activity).

Listen to what politicians say and claim. Listen to the wording of the commercial and read the disclaimers. Learn to discern what is said from what is not said. We all use the same words, patriots and autocrats, but what is believable, truthful, constructive, freeing?

I ask my classes to do a little research to illustrate how we use words depending on the situation and context. Just four words to make them think: argument, theory, critical, and freedom. The Greeks actually had four different words for "love" in an effort to reduce confusion. Would that we were as careful.