Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power

by Fr. John Parks  |  09/08/2024  |  Weekly Reflection

Some years ago, I came across a little book called “Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power” by the Catholic German philosopher Josef Pieper. This book explained to me why I generally hated political discourse but didn’t know why. I wanted to be an informed Catholic American doing my patriotic duty –which falls under the fourth commandment – by learning the issues and voting well i.e. according to a well-formed Catholic conscience. And yet, I had such little patience for politicians and their discourse –why?

As Pieper points out, the Greek Philosopher Plato (through the mouthpiece of Aristotle) had a great aversion to the Sophists. The Sophists were those public philosophers and intellectuals who you could pay to listen to them speak. Plato was dead set against them because he believed that they corrupted the word i.e. language itself.

How so? Language is so important because when we learn to use it properly, we are not merely learning another subject among many (chemistry, history, etc.) we are learning to use the means by which we convey ideas. To use an economic analogy, if every subject we learn in school like a product that is sold in a market economy, language is the currency (the money) by which we discuss ideas. The end of language is to convey reality. We use words to convey truth to another person, i.e. language has an interpersonal character. So, when you corrupt language by using it no longer to convey truth, but to conceal truth so as to manipulate another, you are destroying the very purpose for which language exists. This is done through a kind of flattery to the listener, but the real intention of the one speaking, is to gain power over them through manipulation. Pieper goes so far as to say that when one lies in communicating to another –which is to be the means by which we see something together – plainly speaking, you cannot say you are communicating at all—you have falsified language and its reason for existing. And again, this is often done to manipulate another so as to have power over them. Think of all the high-sounding rhetoric of so many autocrats he said sweet lies to tickle the ears of their listeners, only so that when they attain power, they immediately go back on their word.

Now, to today. Language is misused so often in our culture. Think of words like, “love, truth, freedom, discriminate, sex, marriage, etc. etc.” – these words – and their plain meeting – are so often corrupted so one group can attain power over another. As Catholics, we are to love words, because we love reality. In our current day, we can commit to doing two things, firstly: let us always speak truth and have the courage to say what needs to be said even in the face of societal pressure to do otherwise. Secondly, let us discern carefully when we hear the language of others – “are they speaking truth?”, or do these sweet-sounding but false words have a more menacing motive beneath them?