Words I would like to see redacted from my language as misleading: 'sustainable,' 'green,' '-friendly,' 'recyclable,' 'free,' 'democratic' [or I would like a precise definition], 'closure,' 'ethically-sourced,' 'eco-' without great precision,
(It's interesting, but any word ending in '-able' is one with which I have misgivings. The same is true of the suffixes '-ism' and '-ist.')
If our languages in part determine the modalities of our thinking, it surely follows that those brought up speaking different languages will think in different ways, the degree of difference being a function of the degree of difference in the internals of the languages, amongst other factors outside the current scope. And if language influences our ways of thinking, might it not be advisable to be a little careful about the precision with which we use it? And, when assessing the actions of the speakers of other languages, the differences between theirs and your own should be scrutinized.
If imprecision arises inevitably from the language itself, is it not a good idea to remedy this? (A particularly salient example is presently perplexing me, on which any help would be welcomed, and that is this: in order to say many things precisely, I need a word which carries all the connotations of 'human' and its relations, humanity, humanitarianism, humane, etc.. What I don't want to suggest by this word is any connection with the biological species homo sapiens sapiens. I can't think of anything that really does the job.) This is one of the reasons I have such a hangup about the 'is' / 'are' mistakes (e.g. there's a lot of people, that one) as the laziness causes the loss of an important distinction. Let this lie for a while though: 'person' will do for the time being.
If one excludes the supernatural (or, more precisely, includes what is called the supernatural in the natural) then in what lies the authority to assign us our rights?
Likewise from what stems the moral foundation of civility?
What is the cause of greed? I have real difficulty with suggesting that it emerges 'naturally' from the combination of systems and norms which people call 'human nature.'
