PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE: CONNECTIONS AND PERSPECTIVES
Series Editors: Margaret Cameron, Lenny Clapp, and Robert Stainton
Advisory Board: Axel Barceló (Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas), Chen Bo (Peking University), Robyn Carston (University College London), Leo Cheung (Chinese University of Hong Kong), Eduardo García (Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas), Sandy Goldberg (Northwestern University), Robin Jeshion (University of Southern California), Ernie Lepore (Rutgers University), Catrina Dutilh Novaes (Vrije University Amsterdam), Eleonora Orlando (University of Buenos Aires), Claude Panaccio (University of Quebec at Montreal), Bernhard Weiss (University of Cape Town), and Jack Zupko (University of Alberta)
Philosophy of Language: Connections and Perspectives comprises monographs and edited collections that explore connections between the philosophy of language and other academic disciplines, or that approach the core topics of philosophy of language in the Anglo-American analytic tradition from alternative perspectives. The philosophy of language, particularly as practiced in the Anglo-American tradition of analytic philosophy, has established itself as a thriving academic discipline. Because of the centrality of language to the human experience, there are myriad connections between the core topics addressed by philosophers of language and other academic disciplines. The number of researchers who are exploring these connections is growing, but there has not been a corresponding increase in the venues for publication of this research. The central purpose and motivation for this series is to address this shortcoming.
Titles in the series
Slurs and Thick Terms: When Language Encodes Values, by Bianca Cepollaro
Rationalist Pragmatism: A Framework for Moral Objectivism, by Mitchell Silver
Reference and Identity in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Scriptures: The Same God?, by D. E. Buckner
Slurs and Thick Terms
When Language Encodes Values
Bianca Cepollaro
LEXINGTON BOOKS
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cepollaro, Bianca, 1989– author.
Title: Slurs and thick terms : when language encodes values / Bianca Cepollaro.
Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, 2020. | Series: Philosophy of language: connections and perspectives | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: “What is the relation between language, communication, and values? In ‘Slurs and Thick Terms,’ Bianca Cepollaro explores the ways in which certain pieces of evaluative language, such as slurs and so-called thick terms, not only reflect speakers’ moral perspectives, but also contribute to promote the speaker’s evaluative stance”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020025866 (print) | LCCN 2020025867 (ebook) | ISBN 9781793610522 (cloth) | ISBN 9781793610539 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Invective—Philosophy. | Metaethics. | Judgment (Ethics)
Classification: LCC P410.I58 C47 2020 (print) | LCC P410.I58 (ebook) | DDC 417/.2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025866
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025867
Contents
1 Cover
4 Title
6 Contents
9 PART I: THE PRESUPPOSITIONAL ACCOUNT OF HYBRID EVALUATIVES 1 Hybrid Evaluatives: A New Class 1.1 What Counts as a Hybrid Evaluative 1.1.1 What Slurs Are About 1.1.2 Distinguishing Thick Terms from Thin Terms 1.1.3 Previous Suggestions for a Uniform Account 1.2 The Projective Behavior of Slurs and Thick Terms 1.2.1 Projection 1.2.2 Rejection 1.2.3 An Alternative Explanation of Projection 1.3 Conclusion 2
