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SUMMARY:Generic speech acts and social kinds - Rae Langton (Faculty of Phi
 losophy)
DTSTART:20140306T163000Z
DTEND:20140306T180000Z
UID:TALK49549@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Helen Curry
DESCRIPTION:Generics are a primitive default mode of generalizing: 'Tigers
  have stripes'\, 'Birds fly'\, 'Mosquitoes carry the West Nile virus'. The
 y pick up on significant or striking properties\, and link them to a psych
 ologically salient kind. Current work in psychology reveals their role in 
 'essentialist' thinking about natural and social kinds. I want to focus on
  their social role – e.g. 'Women can't do science'\, 'Hispanics are lazy
 ' – connecting this with their force when used in illocutionary speech a
 cts. In the social domain generic speech acts can be powerful tools for th
 e expression and creation of social norms\, group prejudice\, stereotyping
 \, and hate speech. Their subtle workings make them hard to notice\, and h
 ard to fight. This talk will identify some problems\, but thoughts about r
 emedies will be welcome.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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