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This Handbook brings together philosophical work on how language shapes, and is shaped by, social and political factors. Its 24 chapters were written exclusively for this volume by an international team of leading researchers, and together they provide a broad expert introduction to the major issues currently under discussion in this area.
The volume is divided into four parts:
Part I: Methodological and Foundational Issues
Part II: Non-ideal Semantics and Pragmatics
Part III: Linguistic Harms
Part IV: Applications
The parts, and chapters in each part, are introduced in the volume's General Introduction. A list of Works Cited concludes each chapter, pointing readers to further areas of study. The Handbook is the first major, multi-authored reference work in this growing area and essential reading for anyone interested in the nature of language and its relationship to social and political reality.
List of contents
Introduction Part 1: Methodological and Foundational Issues 1. Conceptual Engineering in Philosophy 2. Social Ontology 3. An Invitation to Social and Political Metasemantics 4. Linguistic Prescriptivism 5. Speech Act Theory: Social and Political Applications 6. On the Uselessness of the Distinction Between Ideal and Non-Ideal Theory Part 2: Non-Ideal Semantics and Pragmatics 7. Lying, Deception, and Epistemic Advantage 8. Propaganda 9. Code Words 10. Racist and Sexist Figleaves 11. Protests 12. Defective Contexts Part 3: Linguistic Harms 13. Varieties of Pejoratives 14. Microaggressions and the Problem of Attributional Ambiguity 15. Hermeneutical Injustice 16. Social and Political Aspects of Generic Language and Speech 17. Language Extinction 18. Indigenous Language Reclamation Between The Fangs Of a (Simulated) Dilemma Part 4: Applications 19. Language and Free Speech 20. Language and Ideology 21. Language and Legitimation 22. How Much Gender Is Too Much Gender? 23. On Language and Sexuality 24. The Language of mental illness
About the author
Justin Khoo is Associate Professor of Philosophy at MIT. He works primarily at the intersection of philosophy of language and linguistic semantics, and has research interests in metaphysics and meta-ethics.
Rachel Sterken is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. She works primarily at the intersection of philosophy of language, semantics, ethics, and social philosophy. Most of her research focuses on the semantics of generic language and issues related to conceptual engineering.
Summary
In 24 new chapters from an international team of experts, the Handbook explores how language shapes, and is shaped by, social and political factors. The volume provides a broad expert introduction to the major issues currently under discussion in this rapidly growing area.
