John Locke and the Politics of Semantic Virtue

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article addresses the discursive nature of the polity in Locke’s thought. The article aims to show that Locke’s civil society is an association of free citizens, which depends on healthy discourse and what I term semantic virtues. This becomes clear as the important connections between the use and abuse of language and Locke’s political thought are elucidated, so I argue. This article is influenced by several recent studies, which have drawn attention to the semantic dimension of Locke’s social and political thought; the works of Hannah Dawson and Linda Zerilli are particularly relevant. Nonetheless, this article advances a unique reading of language in Locke’s politics that diverges from previous scholarship. Principally, I aim to uncover the nature and consequences of the semantic virtues and also the semantic vices – the use and abuse of language, written and oral. As I show, healthy discourse in civil society is informed by the philosophical use of words and reform of language which he recommended in the Essay. These virtues enable a variety of social goods that are not possible with everyday use of language. Law, justice and public morality require the semantic virtues in Locke’s thought. By contrast, the abuse of language is tied to destructive and tyrannical social outcomes. Thus, Locke’s political and philosophical thought involve a shared discursive dimension. Ultimately, the semantic virtues allow public discourse to meet the standards needed for civil society. With these virtues, citizens may come to employ their rational capacities cooperatively as free men, establishing the concepts of political justice appropriate for their common life. Critically, these virtues include an emotional solution to the passionate nature of linguistic abuse. Collected together, the semantic virtues are taxing, but they remain possible, reasonably plausible, and foundational for important aspects of politics in Locke’s opinion.

참고문헌 (Reference)

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