All good contracts and systems start with clear definitions. This includes our social contracts and systems too. This is why Marxists and Tyrants love to blur them.
"Talking past each other" is a good description of what passes for communication today. Without squirmy meanings propaganda and politics would be pretty much up a creek. Also people would lose one of our favorite ways to verbally assault each other: the old assigning ugly, unintended meanings to what others say.
Redefinition and revisionism are common constructivist tactics in post modern critical theory.
Constructivists have to undermine the Realist and Liberalist premises used to craft governance policies and laws. This heretical approach erodes law and order and is pernicious to natural law, organized society, and the human condition. These actions are despicable and the classical equivalent of lying, cheating, and stealing. Constructivists justify these actions using a flexible value system that is sold to the masses using logical fallacies combined with cognitive bias, appeals to human emotions, and credentialed authorities.
I have said for many years, every word has it's own meaning, that's why there are so many, cuz each on has a specific purpose. Thank you for elucidating. Too bad the professor got his feelings hurt!!
In order to be useful, definitions need to be agreed on by all, and in the context of the state, they need to be enforceable and those marching outside the field boundaries need to be held accountable – a tall order indeed.
You saddled up one of my favorite hobby horses: the slippage between letter and spirit of the law. I taught English, and I’m convinced language is by nature insufficient. We hope to deal with trustworthy, honorable people of their word, but words have connotations, and cheaters weasel, so lawyers stay busy. Heck, SCOTUS can tell a president he can’t forgive student loans, and he’ll keep trying anyway.
We have a hot issue bubbling up around Islam in America, and it illustrates your point. The Constitution prevents congress from making laws regarding religion. Period. But what if the religion requires sharia law and the subjugation of women? Both fly in the face of American jurisprudence. I suspect we’ll soon have a national debate on what the founders literally wrote and what they hoped the establishment clause implied. Religious convictions about abortion fit the same category. Fascinating and important stuff!
This has been the case with drug laws too. And more. The law of the constitution and individual rights must be the code of the land that religions exist under. Harming others cannot be tolerated in a free state
Sure...we have clear daffy-nitions that can be changed or altered by the powers that be. The only true laws are internal and come from within and thus the anti-humans can't change them.
We need to be able to communicate with the anti humans too, Crix. If they don’t have centralized control they cannot just change the definitions any more. You are hard core pessimistic about our situation. It’s respectable because it is true how fucked up our systems are. It’s just fixable. Hopefully someday we can all see it. Before those anti humans break us.
"Talking past each other" is a good description of what passes for communication today. Without squirmy meanings propaganda and politics would be pretty much up a creek. Also people would lose one of our favorite ways to verbally assault each other: the old assigning ugly, unintended meanings to what others say.
Redefinition and revisionism are common constructivist tactics in post modern critical theory.
Constructivists have to undermine the Realist and Liberalist premises used to craft governance policies and laws. This heretical approach erodes law and order and is pernicious to natural law, organized society, and the human condition. These actions are despicable and the classical equivalent of lying, cheating, and stealing. Constructivists justify these actions using a flexible value system that is sold to the masses using logical fallacies combined with cognitive bias, appeals to human emotions, and credentialed authorities.
https://events.tvworldwide.com/tvwwimages/fedexec/Thinking%20Critically%20About%20Critical%20Thinking%20Col%20Gerras.pdf
This was a very good and thought-provoking post. Keep up the good work...
I have said for many years, every word has it's own meaning, that's why there are so many, cuz each on has a specific purpose. Thank you for elucidating. Too bad the professor got his feelings hurt!!
A good, pithy article.
In order to be useful, definitions need to be agreed on by all, and in the context of the state, they need to be enforceable and those marching outside the field boundaries need to be held accountable – a tall order indeed.
You saddled up one of my favorite hobby horses: the slippage between letter and spirit of the law. I taught English, and I’m convinced language is by nature insufficient. We hope to deal with trustworthy, honorable people of their word, but words have connotations, and cheaters weasel, so lawyers stay busy. Heck, SCOTUS can tell a president he can’t forgive student loans, and he’ll keep trying anyway.
We have a hot issue bubbling up around Islam in America, and it illustrates your point. The Constitution prevents congress from making laws regarding religion. Period. But what if the religion requires sharia law and the subjugation of women? Both fly in the face of American jurisprudence. I suspect we’ll soon have a national debate on what the founders literally wrote and what they hoped the establishment clause implied. Religious convictions about abortion fit the same category. Fascinating and important stuff!
This has been the case with drug laws too. And more. The law of the constitution and individual rights must be the code of the land that religions exist under. Harming others cannot be tolerated in a free state
Sure...we have clear daffy-nitions that can be changed or altered by the powers that be. The only true laws are internal and come from within and thus the anti-humans can't change them.
We need to be able to communicate with the anti humans too, Crix. If they don’t have centralized control they cannot just change the definitions any more. You are hard core pessimistic about our situation. It’s respectable because it is true how fucked up our systems are. It’s just fixable. Hopefully someday we can all see it. Before those anti humans break us.
This is very naive
Better yet, define naive
Well thanks for the name calling. Care to elaborate?
it appears t me that Rich is proving your point in real time?!