Two readings for St. Valentine’s Day
On this day of love and friendship, here are two brief samples of popular philosophy that are valuable counterpoints to the “spirit of the age.”
(1) G.E.M. Anscombe, “Does Oxford Moral Philosophy Corrupt Youth?”
Today is the 65th anniversary of its first printing (it already had been delivered over a BBC radio program). R.M. Hare and P.H. Nowell-Smith replied to Anscombe in the next week’s issue; and a week later, she replied to them.
(All these PDFs are supplied by the Integrity Project. Their typeface is Plantin, my favorite for body text.)
I’m afraid there is nothing friendly, romantic, or erotic in this exchange; although Hare does begin, “Owing to the lubricity of her style …” and Anscombe replies – equivocally! (for “lubricity” has two meanings) – “I won’t sue Mr. Hare for suggesting I give lecherous talks on the wireless.”
(2) Spencer Case, “The Boy Who Inflated the Concept of ‘Wolf’.”
This was published on St. Valentine’s Day three years ago.
It’s a pretty useful piece. The next time someone accuses you of being a “grammar Nazi” or an “emotional rapist,” you can retort, “Concept inflator!”
Well, OK, that’s not going to win many battles: the phrase just isn’t harsh enough. But you can still look to the concept to purify your own speech. And then you’ll end up as the “sucker” in our society’s verbal arms race. That is, you’ll end up in the pacifist’s position.
(What was Anscombe’s position on dropping language-bombs?)
(1) G.E.M. Anscombe, “Does Oxford Moral Philosophy Corrupt Youth?”
Today is the 65th anniversary of its first printing (it already had been delivered over a BBC radio program). R.M. Hare and P.H. Nowell-Smith replied to Anscombe in the next week’s issue; and a week later, she replied to them.
(All these PDFs are supplied by the Integrity Project. Their typeface is Plantin, my favorite for body text.)
I’m afraid there is nothing friendly, romantic, or erotic in this exchange; although Hare does begin, “Owing to the lubricity of her style …” and Anscombe replies – equivocally! (for “lubricity” has two meanings) – “I won’t sue Mr. Hare for suggesting I give lecherous talks on the wireless.”
(2) Spencer Case, “The Boy Who Inflated the Concept of ‘Wolf’.”
This was published on St. Valentine’s Day three years ago.
It’s a pretty useful piece. The next time someone accuses you of being a “grammar Nazi” or an “emotional rapist,” you can retort, “Concept inflator!”
Well, OK, that’s not going to win many battles: the phrase just isn’t harsh enough. But you can still look to the concept to purify your own speech. And then you’ll end up as the “sucker” in our society’s verbal arms race. That is, you’ll end up in the pacifist’s position.
(What was Anscombe’s position on dropping language-bombs?)