Title:
Are Verbal Disputes Common?
Abstract:
People often engage in verbal disputes. For instance, in a discussion, individuals may choose different forms of expression to rhetorically lend credibility to their positions. However, we argue, verbal disputes are not common in the sense that people often fail to appreciate their linguistic differences. As they express their views, they give indicators of how they use language that do not tend to go unnoticed. Despite this, a tradition in analytic philosophy contends that people in general and philosophers in particular are prone to not realise that their disputes are the result of linguistic differences. This may have more to do with the culture of analytic philosophy than with the observation of linguistic practices.
(The paper is co-authored by Daniele B. Garancini).