The paper deals with a language phenomenon called doublespeak regarded as a powerful set of linguistic means and stylistic devices expressed in publicist discourse which reflects all the spheres of human life and activities including politics, law, business, marketing, etc. Publicist style is used with the purpose of influencing the public by means of employing various linguistic techniques, logical argumentation and emotional appeal. Publicist style is the most critical one for doublespeak usage among other functional styles. The doublespeak technique is most often used there for the sake of persuasion. Since publicist discourse delivers certain vocabulary, expressions and the style needed to communicate, the peculiarities of the publicist functional style should be taken into consideration.Regarding the issue of doublespeak from both theoretical and practical points of view the paper contains classification, definitions and examples with a focus on language means and stylistic devices as factors altering the perception of information. Doublespeak, being a misleading persuasive technique, exerts influence on people and their opinions, manipulating and skillfully obfuscating them only pretending to communicate truthful messages. Actually it is aimed at blocking critical thinking due to the use of half-truths by giving fallacious arguments, providing veiled facts and factoids, thus, limiting and preventing further thought which illustrates the importance of information literacy.Penetrating into all the spheres of social life and becoming a part of the general language, doublespeak has a great influence on social communication shaping the context in which it is used. At the same time it depends on the receiver who assigns the meaning of the message according to his/her individual experiences and purposes. Hence, different people can make different meanings of the same message which is the result of the required high level information literacy, critical thinking, analytical reasoning as well as responsibility needed for the corresponding lucidity and critical honesty.
The article deals with the philosophical notion and semantic analysis of the concept of freedom.It is aimed at regarding the concept of freedom covering its complexity from the point of view of lexical semantics as well as the interpretation of this notion highly dependent on philosophical and sociological context. To embrace and understand freedom as a lexical unit in its whole integrity it is necessary to study it in terms of semantic analysis, paying attention to polysemy, synonymy and etymology. The etymology reveals the social aspect of the notion of freedom in the context of philosophical analysis.General concept of freedom from the philosophical point of view is regarded in the Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy where it is treated in two aspects, i.e. as positive and negative. Positive freedom belongs to the area within which 'the individual is self-determining' (i.e. having control over one's life, ruling oneself) while negative freedom is incorporated by the area characterised as such where the individual 'is left free from interference by others' (i.e. not prevented from doing something by others). Philosophical aspects of freedom as a notion are reflected also in its senses as (a) the quality, esp of the will or the individual, of not being totally constrained; able to choose between alternative actions in identical circumstances [Br.E] and (b) the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination [Am.E].Talking about the semantic analysis of the concept of freedom it is necessary to mention that the primary goal is to present the polysemantic aspect of this lexical unit and the vast range of possible meanings that can be attributed to the word due to its developed lexical-semantic structure.The word freedom means a lot but always something valuable. It is generally known that there is one freedom which is the fundamental one, the freedom which is desired by all people. It is freedom in itself, freedom as the basis of human life. Further research could be focused more on the contextual philosophical meanings of the concept.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.