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SUMMARY:Boxes with false bottoms? The challenge presented by abstract key 
 words in English - Professor Alan Durant (School of Law\, Middlesex Univer
 sity London)
DTSTART:20171031T174500Z
DTEND:20171031T191500Z
UID:TALK87551@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Rachel E. Holmes
DESCRIPTION:Comparing the early days of US democracy with aristocratic Eur
 opean traditions\, Tocqueville noted both capability to signal new possibi
 lities and risky latitude of interpretation in what he found during his tr
 avels to be prevalent and novel use of abstract vocabulary. Public discour
 se in English globally is now saturated with highly abstract key words: wo
 rds that are not self-evidently either technical or ordinary but cut acros
 s (in ideal circumstances\, connect) those two categories. Democratic\, li
 berty\, right\, natural\, education\, fair\, environmental\, austerity and
  many others come to mind. This session explores how differently such word
 s have been investigated across fields ranging from literary criticism and
  linguistics\, through history and law\, to philosophy. It also asks what 
 challenges to public discourse such abstract key words present.
LOCATION:Gatsby Room\, Wolfson College
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