Language

The role of language in

Arguments

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Finding the right words: The
need for precision
 Being imprecise – results in confusion and
misunderstanding
“My father is a painter.” – paint houses or
canvases?
“Sweatshop labourers earn minimal pay
working in suffocating conditions in factories
owned by American corporations. They claim
that economic realities force them to
participate in this practice.”
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Questions
 What is meant by “sweatshop” and
“minimal pay”?
 “Suffocating” – literal or metaphorical?
 “they” – refers to corporations or
labourers?

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Vagueness
 Vagueness – refers to lack of clarity or
precision
 Meaning is fuzzy or inexact
 Terms like “rich”, “middle-aged” are
vague

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Vague words
Vague word divides things into 3 classes:
• those things to which the word clearly
applies,
• those things to which it clearly does not
apply, and
• those things to which it may or may not
apply.

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 Vagueness
Vagueness should be avoided since it
frustrates clear thinking and communication
Examples:
“Anyone dressing inappropriately will be
imprisoned.”
“Anyone speaking disloyally will be shot.”

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Overgenerality
Overgenerality
- not specific enough in a given context
- a statement that gives too much
information to be useful in a given context
Dialogue:
Teacher : Johny, what is 7+2?
Johny : More than 2.

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Overgenerality
Whether an expression is overly general
depends on the context.
Example:
We will deploy the air force to deter the
intruders.
• ‘deploy the air force’ – what specific
actions?

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Overgenerality
“Is your chess opponent human or
machine?”
Answer: Human (Ok in this context – could
be a computer)

“Can you describe the robbery suspect?”

Answer: “He’s human.” (Not Ok in this
context)

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Ambiguity
Ambiguity refers to a doubtful sense of a
word.
Example:
The word ‘star’ can mean among other
things, a celebrity or a twinkling celestial
object

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Ambiguity
 A word or expression is ambiguous if it
has two or more distinct meanings and if
the context does not make it clear which
meaning is intended.

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Difference between vagueness
and ambiguity
 A vague expression is imprecise
because it has blurry boundaries.
 An ambiguous expression is imprecise
because it is unclear which of the two or
more distinct meanings is the one
intended by the author.

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Examples
 Dog for sale. Eats anything and is
especially fond of children
 Come to us for unwanted pregnancies.
 Bill shot an elephant in his pajamas.
 What is hell? Come to church next
Sunday and listen to our new minister.

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The importance of precise
definitions
 A convincing argument depends on the clear
and accurate definition of language
 You will be very aware of the need for clarity if,
for example, you were arrested and charged
with an offense
Example:
Clinton’s case on the definition of ‘sexual
relations’

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Types of definitions
 Audience may not have the same
understanding of a term used in an
argument
 There are several kinds of arguments

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Stipulative definition
 If you have created a new word or used
an old word in an entirely new way – you
have provided a stipulative definition
“Suppose we say that to love someone is to be
willing to die for that person.”
 You tell the readers and listeners what
you mean by the term
 Most subjective of definitions

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Persuasive definition
 Arguer defines the term in an effort to
persuade the reader to agree with the arguer’s
point of view
 Usually contains emotional appeals and
slanted terms
“Capital punishment means the state-
sanctioned enactment of appropriate
punishment for vengeful murderers of
helpless prisoners”

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Lexical definition
 Words are defined in the way they are
generally used in the language

“A rug is a heavy fabric used to cover a

floor.”
 Definition of ‘rug’ – general usage not one
person’s use of the word

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Precising
 Arguer attempts to qualify a vague word
so that its meaning is not left to the
interpretation of the reader or listener

E.g. : Students ‘participating’ in class will

receive extra points.
 Meaning or interpretation of ‘participating’

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Strategies for Defining
 Give illustrations – simplest way
- Ostensive definition - point to the
object being named; demonstrating
- Enumerative definition – by listing,
giving examples.
- Definitions of this nature tend to be
partial rather than complete

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Strategies for Defining
 Use a Dictionary – dictionaries tell what part
of speech a word is, how it is commonly
pronounced, and where the word comes from
– its etymology
 Synonym – words that have the same
meaning
 Define Genus and Difference – place the
term in a class that helps narrow its meaning

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Emotive Language – Slanting the
truth
 Words selected not for the information
they convey but for their emotive force
 Appeal to the reader’s feelings, desires,
and needs
 Writer trying to create the desired
feelings and attitude rather than to
increase the knowledge

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Emotive Language – Slanting the
truth
 Emotive language in an argument is
used to move readers by agitating,
disturbing, angering or exciting them

 Be on the lookout for language intended

to evoke particular emotions

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Emotive power of words
 Denotation of the word – literal meaning
or semantic meaning

 Connotation – images and metaphors. It

includes the perceptual meaning.

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Emotive words
 The best and simplest way to determine
whether words in an argument are
emotive is to replace the words with
neutral words without change in meaning

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Euphemistic Language
 Euphemism – derives from the Greek
word meaning “to speak with good
words”
 Involves substituting a more pleasant,
less objectionable way of saying
something for a blunt or more direct way.
He has ‘passed away’.

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Euphemisms and political
correctness
 Euphemisms – mild, comforting or
evasive words that take the place of
harsh, blunt or taboo words
 Be aware that pleasant or vague
language is often used to hide reality or
to avoid facing the truth

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Euphemisms and political
correctness
 Governments and politicians are
notorious for using euphemisms
 When euphemisms are used in
deliberate effort to confuse the audience
or evade the truth, the critical thinker
should recognise this

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Examples
 Convict – socially separated
 Retarded – mentally challenged
 Old, elderly – senior citizen
 Used car – pre-owned car
 Deaf – hearing impaired

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Dysphemism
 A dysphemism is a word or phrase people
use to make something or someone sound
negative, bad and unlikeable
E.g. for death E.g. for unintelligent
bit the dust birdbrain
bite the big one airhead
Worm food dumb as a rock
Others: freedom fighter - terrorist

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 THANK YOU

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