Subject:
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Re: Language slipping?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 22 Dec 1999 19:04:36 GMT
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Viewed:
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458 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes:
>
> I don't think anyone would argue that obscenity is anything other than a
> social and/or personal convention, rather than some inherent quality or state;
> it's largely a matter of consensus. That's not to say obscenity doesn't
> "exist"--it exists as surely as language or any other social convention, but
> you're right that it's hard to "prove" one way or the other.
Then tell me what "obscenity" is, since it exists.
>
> I'm not entirely comfortable with a lukewarm term like objectionable. I
> find ProWrestling objectionable, but I wouldn't call it obscene. Brussel
> Sprouts are objectionable, but not typically obscene.
> I fear that such an
> open-ended word is itself part of the problem, since it allows any zealot to
> define any word/image/sound/object/thought/farm animal as obscene according to
> the zealot's own whimsy.
That's my point about how subjective it is.
One zealot who says any word/image/sound/object/thought/farm animal is obscene
is a crazy man- if we get enough of those zealots together, however, then the
word/image/sound/object/thought/farm animal becomes obscene, because it has
become an convention.
> Dave!
Then Chris!!
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Language slipping?
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| (...) Obscene is one of a number of slippery words that are contextually defined. In most english speaking countries, for example, bodily waste is refered to by multiple terms, some "obscene", some not. It generally depends on the context for most (...) (25 years ago, 22-Dec-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Language slipping?
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| (...) state; (...) Let me start by saying I think we agree on the meat of the issue. However, I think some people are succumbing to the falacy that in order to exist, something must be identifiable in words, which is surely not the case. I can't (...) (25 years ago, 22-Dec-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Language slipping?
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| (...) I don't think anyone would argue that obscenity is anything other than a social and/or personal convention, rather than some inherent quality or state; it's largely a matter of consensus. That's not to say obscenity doesn't "exist"--it exists (...) (25 years ago, 22-Dec-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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