I don’t understand why this is not obvious to other Forum members.
It also indicates a general tendency to reduce a complex intellectual argument to a single word expletive.
In my experience on this Forum, after posting a reply to someone that might have taken an hour or more to compose, sometimes the response has been either a single word dismissal or more often a refusal even to engage in either discussion or discourse.
Immanuel Kant is “one of the most influential and highly discussed figures in modern Western philosophy” (Wikipedia - Immanuel Kant), has written hundreds of thousands of words, including “Critique of Pure Reason,” “Critique of Practical Reason,” and “Critique of Judgment.”
I find it hard to believe that it is now accepted within a philosophy forum to reduce one of the greatest philosophers to a single word expletive in place of any supporting argument or considered justification.
The @name indicates as much about contemporary intellectual bankruptcy as misogynistic abuse.
Intention and context are all-important, I think. The word can be a vicious insult, particularly in the US, if it is used in that way, to demean and hurt.
My favourite PF/TPF usernames of all time are Hegels Bagels and Utter Cunt.
@T_Clark, does it feel to you as if the forum, by allowing this username, is disrespecting a cultural difference (between the US and other places) in an unnecessary and disproportionate way?
Could it be that in the US the username does violate the guidelines, but elsewhere it doesn’t, because of the cultural context?
There is the principle that one person’s suffering outweighs ten peoples pleasure. Generally it’s better to forgo a bit of fun if it genuinely upsets someone. Does that principle apply here?
Yeah, this seems a cultural difference. Here in the UK, and probably also Australia, “cunt” is a gender-neutral insult, and I’m pretty sure that every cunt I know of is a man.
The user explained that he is half German, and “cunt” is how it sounds when you pronounce “Kant” in this language. Overall, I think the joke involves a mildly humorous combination of a pun and the peculiarities of phonetics.
Dow Nunder, when used as an insult, a cunt is male, a bitch is female. Roughly.
As mentioned, referring to someone as a cunt would not be an insult in a typical conversation between men. Indeed, it would often be an expression of endearment. Intent and tone are all here. It could also get you flattened.
@Javi has it right. It’s a pun on a German accent.
For my part, it has just been an opportunity to be a bit of a cunt. You cunts can complain all you like, that cunt @Jamal probably doesn’t care.
For the record, that last paragraph was toned down for our international audience.
