A Moratorium On Vituperation

• Published date: 01 June 1948
• Author: Peter H. Odegard
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100207
• Date: 01 June 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

EDITORIAL COMMENT
A MORATORIUM ON VITUPERATION
by
PETER H. ODEGARD
President, Reed College
We too often forget that the way words and other symbols are used
is of vast importance and significance. The fabric of literature and history,
of politics and philosophy-the whole structure of modern science-all de-
pend in large measure upon the proper use of the words and symbols without
which none of them have any substance or reality. In a very real sense,
education, at least higher education, consists mainly of language courses,
not merely languages like English and French and Spanish, but the languages
of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, of history, politics, and
philosophy. Most literate people know the elementary rules that govern
the rational use of words and symbols-the so-called laws of identity, con-
tradiction, excluded middle and sufficient reason. They know how to
identify and perhaps to avoid the more common fallacies of begging the
question: ambiguity, accident and evasion, of non-sequitur and post hoc
ergo propter hoc. They know or should know too how treacherous are all
universals and either or propositions.
One more thing we need to remember about words and their use-
a use that transcends formal rules of science and logic: Words do express
feelings, fear and hope, love and hate. Hayakawa, in his book, Language
in Action, says that statements like &dquo;John is a good boy&dquo; are more properly
called snarl and purr expressions. &dquo;Human beings,&dquo; he says, &dquo;probably be-
cause they consider it beneath their dignity to express anger in purely
animalistic noises, do not ordinarily growl like dogs, but substitute words
such as, ’You dirty double-crosser!’ ’You filthy scum!’ Similarly, instead
of purring or wagging the tail the human being again substitutes speeches
such as, ’She’s the sweetest girl in all the world,’ or ’Oh, dear, what a
cute baby !’ &dquo;
-
More often than not words like &dquo;Reds,&dquo; &dquo;Wall Street,&dquo; &dquo;Economic
royalists,&dquo; are snarl words while expressions like &dquo;Free Enterprise,&dquo; the
&dquo;Common Man,&dquo; the &dquo;New Deal,&dquo; &dquo;One...