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Concepts shape attitudes, that’s why we should improve them
We cannot simply accept words that contribute to oppression or exclusion, says philosopher Joey Pollock, who thinks the engineering of better words and concepts should also aim to address people’s moral understanding.
You can make decisions on how to use words, even though it is not necessarily easy, says philosopher Joey Pollock. Photo: Brett Jordan/Unsplash.
“We made the words. Of course we can decide what they mean!”
Joey Pollock is a philosopher of language, and if you tell her that words are just words, or that words have a given and final meaning, this is how she reacts. This is not, and should not be true, according to the philosopher.