07 Mar2022

111/3/15《Philosophy of writing: Three discourse analysis tools to understand why obscure writing is acceptable》Dr.Carlos Hernández Mercado

Philosophy of writing: Three discourse analysis tools to understand why obscure writing is acceptable

Speaker / Dr.Carlos Hernández Mercado
(Ph.D. Philosophy, Universidad Iberoamericana, Campus México City)

Date / 2022.03.15 (Tue) 1-3 p.m
Venue / 101 Conference room, CHSS building,TMU

Abstract:
Numerous manuals of academic writing recommend students to write clearly and concisely.
For example, in the Elements of Style, Strunk and White considered obscurity in writing as a vice or even the sign of a confused mind. This might mean that a clear mind would always have to produce clear texts.
Wittgenstein (in his Tractatus) shared a similar opinion when he declared that “everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be put into words can be put clearly” (Wittgenstein, 4.116). This seems intuitive, but what happens when authors purposely shroud their discourse in obscurity? What happens when the texts we read are hard, obscure, sealed? Is this a sign of confusion or a sign of genius?
In this talk, I’ll examine the trope of obscurity in writing and propose a new way in understanding it. To reach my conclusion, I rely on three discourse analysis techniques: Stasis Theory, Argument Mining, and Metaphor Analysis.
In the last part of the talk, I’ll share these techniques to show that they can be applied extensively in humanities research.
My conclusion is that obscurity in writing is far from being unjustified. In fact, obscurity is not only common but, in many cases, necessary.