At 09:31 PM 10/12/01 +0000, someone wrote:
>but its all semantics
This is one of those cant phrases that genuinely infuriate me, and should
upset anyone with an educated brain in their head.
*Semantics* is the discipline centrally concerned with *the meaning of
statements*, with *how communication works effectively to convey or mask
meanings*.
So `Pah, it's just semantics,' with its implied rider `Please ditch *that*
pettifogging triviality', is equivalent to saying, `That's just trying to
agree on what we're talking about, and the ways we'll do it--let's ignore
such dismal irrelevancies and instead just babble about whatever comes into
our heads.'
Damien Broderick
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat May 11 2002 - 17:44:13 MDT