Emotively Neutral Language

For example, the following emotively charged

argument taken from the letters to the editor
section of a newspaper.
Now that we know that the rocks on the moon are
similar to those in our backyard and that tadpoles
can exist in a weightless environment, and now
that we have put the rest of the world in order, can
we concentrate on the problems here at home?
Like what makes people hungry and why is
unemployment so elusive? (Robert J. Boland)
 Emotively Neutral Language
The conclusion of this argument is that our
government should take money that has been
spent on the space program and on international
police actions and redirect it to solving domestic
problems. The author minimizes the importance
of the space program by covertly suggesting
that it amounts to nothing more than work on
ordinary rocks and tadpoles (which by
themselves are relatively insignificant), and he
exaggerates the scope of the international effort
by covertly suggesting that it has solved every
problem on earth but our own.
 Emotively Neutral Language
We might rephrase the argument in emotively
neutral language, making the implicit suggestions
and value claims explicit, as follows:
The space program has been confined to work on
ordinary rocks and tadpoles.
Ordinary rocks and tadpoles are less important than
domestic hunger and unemployment.
Our international efforts have restored order to every
nation on earth but our own.
These efforts have been directed to problems that are
less important than our own domestic problems.
Therefore, our government should redirect funds that
have been spent on these projects to solving our own
domestic problems.
 Emotively Neutral Language
By restructuring the argument in this way, we can
more easily evaluate the degree to which the
premises support the conclusion. Inspection of the
premises reveals that the first, third, and possibly
fourth premise are false. Thus, the actual support
provided by the premises is less than what we might
have first expected. If the argument were to be
rephrases a second time so that the premises turned
out to be true (for example, the first premise might
read Part of the space program has been devoted to
research on ordinary rocks and tadpoles), the
support given to the conclusion would still be weaker
than the author intended.
 Emotively Neutral Language
It is possible to get so wrapped up in trying to
avoid emotion that you lose sight of what was
intended. This is particularly true when you
try to replace emotional terms one at a time.
One student, in de-emotionalizing a very
hostile letter about a leading political,
confronted the writers use of the reference
dirty S.O.B. Rather than recognize this as a
basically emotional term with little information
content, he translated it as individual who
needs a bath and whose mother is registered
with the American kennel Club. That is the
literal meaning of the words, but has nothing
at all to do with probable intent of the writer.