Ambiguity and Vagueness Flashcards
what is an ambiguous sentence?
when there is more than one proposition that it could be reasonably taken to express
define lexical ambiguity
words/phrases with more than one meaning
define syntactic ambiguity
whole sentences arranged so as to have more than one meaning
what is vagueness?
the meaning of a word/phrase being imprecise, indefinite or uncertain (e.g. socialist, conservative)
why is it hard to discern a meaning for vagueness?
they are associated with a cluster of things that are not unified in any exact way
ambiguity can be used _______ to make arguments seem _________
deceptively, better
what is a rhetorical ploy?
non-argumentative attempt to persuade that pretends to provide reasons for claim but their real persuasive capacity depends on something non-argumentative (e.g. emotional language)
appeal to novelty
appeals to desire not to miss out on new trends
appeal to fear
eliciting fear without providing any reasons to think that the fear is warranted (immigration)
appeal to ridicule
attacking someone by casting them in ridiculous light
other appeals
wealth, sexiness, cuteness, popularity, compassion, guilt
what is trading on implicature?
making a statement implicating a proposition that is not actually made; avoids responsibility since didnt actually say words
what is trading on equivocation?
attempt to non-rationally persuade by exploiting ambiguity/vagueness of a word/phrase
avoids asserting anything false, but misleads our thoughts
