Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Pornography silences women by undermining their capacity ... — Carmelics
    Home/Philosophy of Language
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Pornography silences women by undermining their capacity to perform certain speech acts.

    Philosophy of LanguageRights & Liberty
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Some speech acts set conditions that fix the possibility of other speech acts, making certain speech acts possible for some persons and impossible for others.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Pornography sets rules of behavior that inhibit the speech of women.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The speech acts of pornography—performed by those who produce and distribute it—create a climate that undermines women's capacity to perform certain speech acts of their own.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Speech act uptake failures caused by social conditions are distinct from silencing caused by a specific communicative act's illocutionary force.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Pornography is one among many social factors shaping linguistic uptake; attributing silencing specifically to it commits a causal overdetermination fallacy.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Rae Langton's illocutionary silencing thesis requires that pornography itself—not merely its social effects—constitutes the disabling of women's speech acts.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.J.L. Austin's speech act theory grounds illocutionary force in shared conventional procedures, not in the downstream psychological states of third-party audiences.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If pornography silences by shaping male attitudes, the mechanism is perlocutionary, not illocutionary, and perlocutionary effects cannot ground a rights-based silencing claim without proving specific causal harm.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Jennifer Hornsby and Langton conflate perlocutionary uptake failure with illocutionary disability, a distinction Austin himself regarded as theoretically decisive.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Philosophy of LanguageRights & Liberty

    Related

    If pornography silences by shaping male attitudes, the mechanism is perlocutiona...J.L. Austin's speech act theory grounds illocutionary force in shared convention...Jennifer Hornsby and Langton conflate perlocutionary uptake failure with illocut...Pornography is one among many social factors shaping linguistic uptake; attribut...
    +5 moreShow less
    Pornography sets rules of behavior that inhibit the speech of women.Rae Langton's illocutionary silencing thesis requires that pornography itself—no...Some speech acts set conditions that fix the possibility of other speech acts, m...Speech act uptake failures caused by social conditions are distinct from silenci...The speech acts of pornography—performed by those who produce and distribute it—...

    Similar

    Pornography sets rules of behavior that inhibit the speech of women.86%The speech acts of pornography—performed by those who produce and dist...77%Censorship, even of false belief, harms both those whose speech is sup...74%Sexism is a form of oppression against women as a group, even though s...74%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: hate-speech
    View source passageHide passage
    This silencing argument begins with MacKinnon’s observation that there are “words that set conditions” for other speech acts’ successes or failures (1993, 63–68; see also Hornsby and Langton, 1998, 27). That is, there are some speech acts that fix the possibility of other speech acts. In other words, they make it possible for some persons to perform some speech acts, and make it impossible for others. This is most evident in formal settings, like a legislature, where the formal rules determine w
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit