Refusing to endorse
a must explanation for pejoratives
pp. 219-239
in: Annalisa Coliva, Paolo Leonardi, Sebastiano Moruzzi (eds), Eva Picardi on language, analysis and history, Berlin, Springer, 2018Abstract
In her analysis of pejoratives, Eva Picardi rejects a too sharp separation between descriptive and expressive content. Carlo Penco reconstructs some of her arguments, endorsing Eva's criticism of Williamson's analysis of Dummett and developing a suggestion by Manuel García-Carpintero on a speech act analysis of pejoratives. Eva's main concern is accounting for our instinctive refusal to endorse an assertion containing pejoratives because it suggests a picture of reality we do not share. Her stance might be further developed claiming that uses of pejoratives not only suggest, but also promote a wrong picture of reality. Our refusal to endorse implies rejecting not only a wrong picture of reality but also a call for participation to what that picture promotes.
