Word: argumentation
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...most common response to Dole's argument is to view the debased content of American entertainment as a symptom, rather than a cause, of the nation's moral decay. As Frank Rich wrote in a recent opinion piece for the New York Times, "I'm no fan of dr. Dre...but I disagree with Mr. Dole's theory that ugly words are the causes, rather than the effects, of American pathologies...
...Such an argument sounds quite convincing. In a culture that has always believed in the power of action and the impotence of words, it is compelling to aruge that words have little or no effect on behavior. Words can only tell us what's going on in a world of external reality that lies beyond words...
Looking at the profanity in contemporary movies and the violent lyrics of rap songs can tell us something about the state of our culture, but language itself has no power to influence the conditions that it informs us of. To people who advance this argument, words are as powerless as thermometers or pressure gauges. Like thermometers, they can tell us about what's going on in the world outside, but they have absolutely no power to affect what they describe...
This model is appealing because of its intuitiveness and simplicity. It tells us that culture is merely a reflection of our norms and values; it does not have any ability to shape those values. But the problem with this argument is that it offers us a gross oversimplification of the relationship between culture and human behavior. I would submit that the issue is not as simple as Frank Rich and others like him would have us believe. The world of action and the world of words are inextricably linked. Neatly separating these two worlds from each other and then determining...
...disagree with Dole argue that art is merely reflecting life in this instance. They maintain that the artifacts of our cultural production are laced with violence and sex because modern life in the United states is laced with violence and sex. they conclude from this observation that Dole's argument cannot stand...