4 ms·
The way I look at it is that if he's not swearing AT you, then you shouldn't be offended. He doesn't go up there and say "dear audience, fuck you".
by mikerice 15y ago
The way I look at it is that if he's not swearing AT you, then you shouldn't be offended. He doesn't go up there and say "dear audience, fuck you".
- ctdonath 15y agoNo, he's just asking you to stand with him as he offends others.
- adbge 15y agoYou can choose what things you find offensive. If you choose to be offended when someone uses profanity, that's your problem, not mine. It's not my responsibility to protect the world from potentially offensive things.
- pbhjpbhj 15y agoI'm with you up to a point. That you can choose to be offended by something. But I fear that sometimes it's not a choice. Certainly I've felt offended in the past by things that surprised me, that rationally shouldn't have mattered as much as they did. >It's not my responsibility to protect the world from potentially offensive things. // Depends on your basis for morality. I think you have some responsibility not to be gratuitously offensive [in speech]. Talking graphically about the death of the [late] beloved of a recently bereaved person might be a ready example. I've never been offended by so-called profanity - sure the intended meaning has been offensive to me but not the particular words used. However, profanity appears to be mainly what is used by those too lazy to try and properly express themselves or too limited in their vocabulary to do the same.
- ctdonath 15y agoRead what I wrote. I didn't say you would find it offensive, I said he was asking you in joining his side as he offended others. A typical audience is, by continued presence and attentiveness, inclined to support what the speaker says. The speaker is not saying "fuck you" to the audience, he's saying it to a third person/thing and at minimum implicitly suggesting the audience support the notion. He's not trying to offend you, he's trying to get you to offend someone/thing else. You don't have to protect the world from the offense, but you don't have to sit there tacitly supporting it either.
- burgerbrain 15y agoWhat the hell does this even mean? He's 'asking' you to support the offending of a mythical "third person"? I have no idea what you are attempting to communicate.
- ctdonath 15y agoI'm asking you to think about obscenity and offenses thereof in a completely different way than you're used to. This means that the use of obscenity is directed at someone or something, intending offense thereto. Yes, he's asking you to support the offending of a third person (or thing), mythical or not. He is acting as an offender (whether there is a being to experience being offended or not), and he's asking you to take the role of offender as well. Do understand: there are times when initiating offense is appropriate. There are times when asking others to join you in initiating offense is appropriate. Some people in the audience may not want to share in offending the subject of the offense the speaker is initiating. Thus, by using obscenity, the speaker may alienate some of the audience. Now, question is, was that necessary?
- burgerbrain 15y ago"This means that the use of obscenity is directed at someone or something, intending offense thereto." Without significant substantiating evidence, I am forced to object to this premise. You are going to need to back that up before the rest of your argument can be coherent.
- ctdonath 15y ago"Fuck you" is offensive to the subject. Changing the subject retains the offense.
- burgerbrain 15y agoThe word is way more versatile than that... That's hardly substantiating evidence for your claim. But lets start simple. What about: "I've got to go take a piss." (Urinate), "He looks rather pissed" (angry), and "Let's get pissed" (drunk).