Guyon
Member
I guess what's being debated here in the main is whether language is fixed and "true" or whether it is contextual and slippery. This isn't a new debate; it's at least as old as Plato's "Cratylus" (For those interested, here ya' go: http://www.karalahana.com/literature/plato cratylus.htm). The same debate is still being waged in academic circles between structuralists (fundamental systems based on explicit definitions) and deconstructionists (all systems are relative), though they may call themselves by slightly different names as the mood strikes.
I really like the responses that have speculated about what one would do in the presence of an LEO. I suspect that a lot of folks would be a little less likely to adamantly maintain that their knife is a "weapon." Language gets funny when your behind is on the line.
As for the language debate, I have to throw out this quotation from the master of spin and deconstruction:
"It depends on what your definition of 'is' is." --William Jefferson Clinton.
From my view, language has always been and is always going to be a slippery, political beast. Trying to pin it down is sort of like trying to pin down a tomato seed with your fingernail. The best we can hope for is to corral it to our advantage. Really, that's why I think knives ought to be depicted as tools. I don't see it so much as a concession. Really, it's just smart strategy.
I really like the responses that have speculated about what one would do in the presence of an LEO. I suspect that a lot of folks would be a little less likely to adamantly maintain that their knife is a "weapon." Language gets funny when your behind is on the line.
As for the language debate, I have to throw out this quotation from the master of spin and deconstruction:
"It depends on what your definition of 'is' is." --William Jefferson Clinton.
From my view, language has always been and is always going to be a slippery, political beast. Trying to pin it down is sort of like trying to pin down a tomato seed with your fingernail. The best we can hope for is to corral it to our advantage. Really, that's why I think knives ought to be depicted as tools. I don't see it so much as a concession. Really, it's just smart strategy.