This doesn't get you out of your contradiction. Certainly if words can
be destructive of reason and counter to the goal of human progress, then
words can hurt people.
>Please don't misinterpret me--I'm not say such reactions are bad,
>or that they should be supressed. I've reacted negatively to certain
>ideas myself (I remember the words "I'm moving in with Kevin" with
>particular attachment). I merely suggest that we give credit where
>it is due. My emotions are mine, dammit. You don't cause them, and
>I don't cause yours.
I think I'm being careful to reply only to what you have actually
said, and not to my interpretation of it. Your last sentence above
seems like a drastic oversimplification to me. Psychological
causality is still very poorly understood, and I wouldn't be
comfortable making such definite emphatic statements about it
(unless I were trying to stir up controversy). It might be helpful
here to distinguish between causation and responsibility. I can
cause you to have certain emotions without relieving you of the
primary responsibility for those emotions, and vice versa. If A
goads B into a screaming fit of rage, we can hold B responsible
for the screaming fit while still having reason to reproach A for
A's verbal goading.
I think I get the gist of what you are trying to say. The only reason
I'm objecting is because I think you are overstating your case.
-- Eric Watt Forste ++ arkuat@pobox.com ++ http://www.pobox.com/~arkuat/