Slurs and Toxicity

What is it about?

A discussion of the unique psychological impact that utterances of slurs can make on hearers, and the implications of this phenomenon for contemporary theories of slurs.

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Why is it important?

Theoretical discussions of slurs in the philosophical literature ignore the psychological evidence showing that taboo language, including slurs, often undergoes distinctive psychological processing in the brain that leads to direct emotional effects in hearers. Without taking this psycho-linguistic perspective into account, it is very difficult to explain why certain highly "toxic" slurs have the power that they do.