Words. words...words

neat little pntification on civility and 'political correctness' over at crooked.

The common analysis underlying both demands for "political correctness" (this actual phrase was never used, except jocularly as far as I know, until critics seized on it, but terms such as "sensitivity" or "inclusive language" cover much the same ground) and for "civility", is that offensive words give rise to offensive acts. In both cases, there's some ambiguity over whether the problem is with the offence to the recipient or with the reinforcement of the hostile/prejudiced attitudes of the speaker, but the central claim is that modes of speech are an appropriate subject of concern and that some form of government action to encourage more socially appropriate modes of speech, ranging from subtle pressure to direct coercion, is desirable. The only difference between the two positions is that they have different lists of inappropriate words.