A contextualist analysis of insults

For a predicate expression F contained in a sentence S (‘x is F’) to count as an insult, it should be used in a situation having a number of contextual elements. There should be an audience to whom the utterance of S is addressed. There should be a target of the insult, an individual who the speaker wishes to be shunned, excluded from certain, more or less salient, forms of social cooperation. The purpose of the utterance of S is to persuade the audience, by appeal to their emotions, to shun the target. Slurs have the canonical occasions of use structurally identical to the occasions of insults. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017

Metaphor in Analytic Philosophy and Cognitive Science

This article surveys theories of metaphor in analytic philosophy and cognitive science. In particular, it focuses on contemporary semantic, pragmatic and non-cognitivist theories of linguistic metaphor and on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory advanced by George Lakoff and his school. Special attention is given to the mechanisms that are shared by nearly all these approaches, i.e. mechanisms of interaction and mapping between conceptual domains. Finally, the article discusses several recent attempts to combine these theories of linguistic and conceptual metaphor into a unitary account

Epistemic Contextualism and the Sociality of Knowledge

This chapter has four central aims. First, in §1, I distinguish two ideas within epistemology that sometimes travel under the name ‘contextualism’ — the ‘situational contextualist’ idea that an individual’s context, especially their social context, can make for a difference in what they know, and the ‘linguistic contextualist’ idea that discourse using the word ‘knows’ and its cognates is context-sensitive, expressing dif- ferent contents in different conversational contexts. Second, in §2, I situate contextualism with respect to several influential ideas in feminist epistemology. These ideas are thoroughgoingly contextualist in the situational sense; I’ll explore the prospects for linguistic contextualist analogues or implementations of them. Simple connections between these feminist ideas and linguistic contextualism will prove elusive, but more subtle ones are possible, and sometimes attractive. §3 considers the degree to which contextual epistemic parameters are determined interpersonally, as opposed to individualistically. Should contextualists hold that speakers can individually determine the contextual parameters that influence the truth- conditions of their utterances? Or are they fixed at a broader social level? I’ll rehearse some influential reasons to opt for the latter, more social, form of contextualism. In §4 I discuss the practical and moral significance of speakers’ choices of epistemic parameters, given contextualism. For example, I’ll consider how standards-raising can be used to discredit evidential sources, with an eye towards the social and moral consequences of such moves

Social History, Psychohistory, and the Prehistory of Swiss Anabaptism

The article discusses a variety of issues concerning social history, psychohistory and the prehistory of Swiss Anabaptism. It explores the contextualist approach to the history and practice of Anabaptism. It traces the prehistory of Swiss Anabaptism and the normative vision of Anabaptist origins. The article also examines the theology of martyrdom according to Conrad Grebel, father of Anabaptist

Linguistic Interventions and Transformative Communicative Disruption

What words we use, and what meanings they have, is important. We shouldn't use slurs; we should use 'rape' to include spousal rape (for centuries we didn’t); we should have a word which picks out the sexual harassment suffered by people in the workplace and elsewhere (for centuries we didn’t). Sometimes we need to change the word-meaning pairs in circulation, either by getting rid of the pair completely (slurs), changing the meaning (as we did with 'rape'), or adding brand new word-meaning pairs (as with 'sexual harassment'). A problem, though, is how to do this. One might worry that any attempt to change language in this way will lead to widespread miscommunication and confusion. I argue that this is indeed so, but that's a feature, not a bug of attempting to change word-meaning pairs. The miscommunications and confusion such changes cause can lead us, via a process I call transformative communicative disruption, to reflect on our language and its use, and this can be further, rather than hinder, our goal of improving language

Beyond an Accommodation: A Mixed Methods Study of Diversity Engagement in Academic Curriculum

Currently, 45% of all college students are classified as racial/ethnic minorities, while 56% of college students are female (NCES, 2018a). By 2030, nearly half of the estimated United States population will be composed of racial/ethnic minorities (Cortes, 1991). With this exponential growth of minorities attending institutions of higher education, there is the assumption that students have begun to engage in and promote diversity and inclusion. However, in 2008, Boysen and Vogel (2009) found that 40% of teachers and 50% of students encountered implicit or explicit bias while in college. In 2017, within four months, over 330 reported biased incidents occurred on collegiate campuses (Guha 2017). Konrath, O’Brien, and Hsing (2011) found that there has been a significant decline in student empathy towards others, including friends, and Twenge (2008) found that narcissism is on a rise with high levels of college students equating their belief of self with that of a celebrity. It is these trends that validate the lack of diversity engagement by students within the institution of higher education, which is failing to adequately prepare current students to become future pluralistic leaders in a democratic society. Utilizing an explanatory sequential mixed method design, this research will answer if demographics and faculty epistemology influence faculty desire to engage diversity in their academic curriculum; and from a white male faculty in the STEM field’s perspective what factors motivate diversity engagement and how do STEM white male faculty engage diversity in their undergraduate academic curriculum? The results will be provided to assist institutions of higher education to develop faculty to integrate diversity and inclusive teaching into their curriculum. With 71% of faculty nationwide identifying as white, if institutions are to engage all our students, then institutions must successfully engage our majority educators (NCES, 2017). If higher education is able to engage faculty in the inclusion of diversity in their academic curriculum, institutions can begin engaging students in diversity, oppression, and inclusion-based topics to influence student belief and ultimately change institutional culture

Addressing a Blind Spot: Altruistic Fear and Religious Bias Motivated Victimization

Fear of victimization is different than actual victimization but has real consequences for individuals’ behaviors and attitudes. Research on fear of victimization in the United States has typically emphasized individuals’ own fears of experiencing violent, sexual, and property crimes. Yet, some studies suggest that fear of crime for other people whose safety one values – significant others, friends, and children – or altruistic fear is more common and often more intense than one’s personal fear of victimization. While some literature exists on the prevalence of altruistic fear in American households, little is known about altruistic fears specifically rooted in the fear of victimization based on a close family member’s or friend’s religious identity. Additionally, some studies suggest that there is a gendered aspect to altruistic fear, where men and women worry and express their fear for loved ones differently. It is likely that these gendered differences manifest in different ways depending on religious tradition. This paper aims to extend the literature on altruistic fear by applying this phenomenon to hate crime victimization, more specifically the fear of victimization based on religious identity

THE DOCTRINE OF ANTI-VIOLENCE IN RELIGION: A COMPARISON STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES OF RELIGIONS IN INDONESIA

Religion spread in this universe is a symbol for a person in dealing with fellow humans and other living creatures. Religious teachings teach their adherents to have compassion and care for one another; there is no single religion that instructs its adherents to commit violence and even kills creatures. This article describes the religious doctrines of non-violence and their similarities and differences. Then we will look at the manifestation of the non-violence doctrine in the adherents of each religion. As a methodical step, this research uses a qualitative method with a library research approach with a content analysis knife. This research concludes that all teachings brought by religious scriptures in Indonesia have the principle of promoting love for others. However, under certain conditions, it turns out that the teachings of the scriptures also provide the freedom to take decisive actions. However, in conditions of peace, no one is advocating for decisive action. When some of the congregation carry out strict teachings, then it is a person who misunderstands in understanding the holy book

Redressing the Imbalances: Rethinking The Judicial Role After R. v R.D.S.

The Decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. R.D.S. dealt with whether a trial judge\u27s comments, about interactions between police officers and non-white groups , gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias in the circumstances. They strongly criticize the contrary ruling of the dissent as inappropriately drawing a false dichotomy between decisions based on evidence and decisions based on generalizations, and as improperly ignoring social context with an unwarranted confidence in the ideology of colour blindness. While more supportive of the majority\u27s analysis, the authors also find cause for concern, with somewhat different emphasis in the nature of their concerns. Although they endorse the willingness of Justices McLachlin and L\u27Heureux-Dubé to take social context into account, the authors (Devlin more than Pothier) think there is insufficient cause expressed. Devlin is more impressed, and Pothier more troubled, by the greater caution regarding social context expressed by Cory and Iacobucci JJ. As regards the test for a reasonable apprehension of bias, Devlin is concerned that the high threshold probability test improperly isolates judges from effective accountability, whereas Pothier supports the high threshold test so as not to render complex substantive equality analysis vulnerable to the challenge of bias. Both authors endorse the acknowledgement of the majority in the Supreme Court of Canada that colour blindness is not necessarily synonymous with impartiality. Dans l\u27arrêt R. c. R.D.S., la Cour suprême du Canada devait déterminer si les remarques du juge du procès concernant les interactions entre les policiers et les groupes non blancs soulevaient une crainte raisonnable de partialité dans les circonstances. Les auteurs critiquent sévèrement l\u27opinion dissidente au motif qu\u27elle établit une fausse dichotomie entre les décisions fondées sur la preuve et les décisions fondées sur des généralisations et au motif qu\u27elle ne tient pas compte du contexte social, prêtant un importance indue à l\u27idéologie de la non-distinction des couleurs. Bien que favorisant davantage l\u27analyse de la majorité, les auteurs formulent certaines préoccupations, de nature différente. Tout en souscrivant à la thèse des juges McLachlin et L\u27Heureux-Dubé qui sont prêtes à prendre en ligne de compte le contexte social, les auteurs (Devlin plus que Pothier) sont d\u27avis que la justification n\u27est pas suffisante. Devlin est surtout impressionné, et Pothier perturbée, par la mise en garde des juges Cory et Iacobucci concernant le contexte social. En ce qui a trait au critère de la crainte raisonnable de partialité, selon Devlin, la norme de probabilité très élevée met le juge indûment à l\u27abri de l\u27imputabilité véritable, alors que Pothier appuie le critère de la norme élevée afin que l\u27analyse complexe des principes de fonds en matière d\u27égalité ne soit pas rendue plus difficile par une allégation de partialité. Les deux auteurs partagent la conclusion de la majorité de la Cour suprême du Canada que la non-distinction des couleurs n\u27est pas nécessairement synonyme d\u27impartialité