'The System of Private Enterprise', an Empirio-Semantical Analysis of a Slogan
Author(s): Herman Tennessen
Source: Synthese, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Mar., 1959), pp. 72-83
Published by: Springer
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20114272
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HERMAN
'THE
SYSTEM
OF
TENNESSEN
PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE',
ANALYSIS
AN EMPIRIO-SEMANTICAL
OF A SLOGAN.
and results of an empirio-semantical
paper outlines the methods
of
the
'(the system of) private enterprise'.1)
study
expression
The chief aims of the enquiry were (1) to chart the trends of the usages
This
of the expression,
(2) to determine which usages are most frequent within
different social and political groups, and (3) to elucidate how the slogan
is used or misused by such groups. Evidently the study may also be styled
a 'slogan analysis'
a
'bias
Before
or a 'socio-semantical
study' or, with
respect
to (3),
analysis'.
undertaking
the construction
taken
from
of a questionnaire,
'occurrences'
in
which
newspapers,
'private
(i.e., quotations)
mostly
enterprise' was used in different contexts, were collected and classified.
in the
This was, in effect, a pretesting of the leading figures in business,
life of Norway.
On the basis
and in the political
civil administration,
of this pretesting a questionnaire was constructed which put the following
six types of question to the respondents.
were
'valence' questions
rather superficial
Attitude
questions. These
to
of
'adherents'
intended
distinguish
private enterprise from 'adver
saries'. For example, one question asked, 'Would you, generally speaking,
describe yourself as an adherent or an adversary of (the system of)
If the respondent
private enterprise?'
specified neither, but indicated
or
or
too
'do not want to answer', the
'doubt'
either 'question
vague'
interviewer was instructed to ask for further particulars.
was to suppose, for example,
Synonymity
questions. Here the respondent
that he sought expressions which would enable him to avoid repetition
in his own writing without making
any essential
'private enterprise'
The following expressions were given:
change in his intended meaning.
initiative',
'personal
'enterprising spirit of the individual', 'free enterprise',
of
*) For
greater
detail
the
reader
may
consult
the
author's
Filosofiske Problemer XI (1948); (English translation, Oslo,
72
'Det
1949.)
private
initiativ',
THE SYSTEM OF PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE
'free industry, 'free competition,'
'liberalism',
'capitalism',
'exploitation
sane
of
of the working people',
'principle
egoism', and 'system of right
to private property'. The respondent
indicated (a) which would serve as
(b) which especially change the meaning,
(c) which are ques
(d) whether he thought other people would prefer different
synonyms and, if so, which synonyms, what people, and why the respond
ent believes this, and (e) the respondent's own proposed synonyms.
were based on newspaper
such as
passages
Passage
questions. These
'Private enterprise must get access where this would be the best way out
of the difficulties',
'Private enterprise should not be allowed to profit at
synonyms,
tionable,
It must be submitted to public control
the expense of the community.
and regulations',
'Private enterprise
is inescapably bound to a purely
conservative
society', and 'Private enterprise is a common human proper
ty which is expressed in every society where 'people with initiative' are to
constitution'.
regardless of the contemporary
Twenty-four
were
with
'Now we are going to
these
instructions:
passages
given
and with reference
submit some passages from Norwegian
newspapers
be found,
to each we
shall ask: (a) Do you agree with this? (b) Is the phrase
paper
'private enterprise' correctly used in this connection?
(c) Which
do you think the passage is taken from?' However,
three other passage
questions just asked, 'Is the phrase 'private enterprise' correctly used?'
In these cases the respondents were given the name of a newspaper - the
wrong
name.
Connotation
must
be met
what conditions
questions. These asked the respondents
for private enterprise to be exercised. After an introduction,
Some examples:
assertions were submitted.
'Mr. P. can
twenty-four
only be said to exercise private enterprise when his activity is determined
by social interests, i.e., by regard for the whole society and not only for P.
and his family or other interests'; '.. .when he himself, and those with
he shares the responsibility
and the risk, are all to be considered
as private persons' ; '... when his purpose is profit, economic gain, power
and prestige for himself and his relations, and not to do something good
whom
for his fellow human beings'. The respondents were
following question with reference to each assertion:
the assertion
you would
using
touches
or indicates
invited to answer
the
'Would you say that
a
characteristic property of what
(a)
or (b) a necessary condition for your
call 'private enterprise'
in connection
'private enterprise'
with
the activity
of P. or (c) a
73
HERMAN
TENNESSEN
to characterize
P.'s activity as 'private enterprise' or
sufficient mark
too
for
formulation
is
the
vague
rendering an opinion?'
(d)
different
situations were submitted in
Denotation
questions. Thirty-three
'Mr. P.' is acting and the respondents were to decide whether his
which
activities
under
the different
circumstances
constitute
private enterprise.
'boss', 'Mr. R.', exercises
to be
private enterprise. Some examples:
(1) 'P. suggests an undertaking
started at his own expense with the double purpose of achieving good
In some cases
it was
also asked whether
P.'s
and of meeting
socially important needs'. (2) 'Same as (1) except
that P. is without economic means. R. finances P. as managing
director
as
'Same
economic
of the undertaking'.
without
(3)
(2) (P.
means) but
or
to
to
R.
local government
instead of applying
institutions, P. submits
business
are going to benefit from it
idea to those who, first and foremost,
consumers
which
of
P.
will
under
goods
(e.g.,
produce). A co-operative
a
and
P.
To
is
is
leader
of
it'.
each
formed,
appointed
taking
question the
or
or
answer
not
could
'no'
'do
the
understand
respondents
'yes'
question'
his
or
'make
certain
reservations'.
about
age,
background
questions
questions. The customary
were
and
the
education, political affiliation,
like,
occupation,
multiple
as were the questions
about which newspapers
choice questions,
the
were
etc.
The
all
open
respondents
usually read,
remaining questions
Other
ended of which two were most useful. The respondents were asked which
party they would say has done the most for private enterprise and what
this party has done. Less useful were the four questions which invited the
to formulate definitions or definition-like
respondents
expressions.
the trends of the usages of 'private enterprise' a 'semantical
was
established. The panel consisted of students of different social
panel'
strata from different parts of Norway.
All had passed the preliminary
of the University
in Oslo with the best mark in interpretation
examinations
To
chart
and 'precization',
i.e., the process of making precise. The panel faced the
entire mass of material with the double task of isolating the most diver
the respondents
intended to follow and classifying
gent usages which
answer
to
in accordance with the rules of
each possible
the questions
usage thus delimited. The panel members were asked, 'If someone answers
question number x like this: '...', what rule of usage do you
intends to follow? What would you think of the respondent's
74
guess
he
linguistic
PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE
'...'?' And so on.
of answering:
this possibility
and subsumed possibilities of answering, severally,
if he chose
intentions
OF
SYSTEM
THE
having classified
they met to catalogue jointly.
This work enabled the investigator
After
the determination
of
to proceed
the most
in the main
of
direction
within
frequent usages
were
viz.
the 'valence grouping',
groupings
adherents and adversaries of private enterprise, and the social grouping,
viz. politicians, officials, and businessmen. Within each group the number
of answers which were supposed to indicate one of the usages was counted.
precization,
different
groups.
the
of answers
the frequency
Then
To
Two
same
was
group
elucidate
how
'private
in their
enterprise'
for power,
groups
struggles
find out how usage varied within
could be expected to accord with
seemed
which
another
indicated
usage within
measured.
is used
or misused
the same methods
by different
were used to
those groups and how these variations
the different goals at which the groups
to aim.
of the relatively small number of respon
lack
statistical significance. Of 168 question
may
dents,
to
the desired social groups: 36 politicians,
naires only 120 belonged
Of these, 78 were 'adherents' of private
38 officials, and 46 businessmen.
were
24 were doubtful or said their answer
15
'adversaries',
enterprise,
It should be stressed that because
the correlations
depend on what was meant by 'private enterprise', and 3 did not
30 Liberals, 17Communists,
to answer. There were 47 Conservatives,
15 Labourites,
and 8 Christian Democrats.
would
want
with the latter
social groupings were cross-tabulated
The
the prediction
confirmed
to
result
affiliation.
political
split according
would describe himself as an 'adversary of
that none of the Conservatives
that the Communists would
the expectation
private enterprise'. However,
The
valence
include no
to indicate
and
'adherents'
was
that classification
not verified.
Their
seemed
equal dispersion
over classification by
by occupation prevailed
voting.
on the basis of these results, other groupings appeared fruitful
Gradually,
the large group of what we shall refer to as: 'rightist' adherents and
two small groups, the 'leftist' adherents and 'leftist' adversaries.
The
semantical
panel
succeeded
in isolating
the possible
of
usages
75
HERMAN
TENNESSEN
'private enterprise'. Little by little, the fiction of clear-cut usages perfectly
was abandoned. Moreover,
it was found
adapted for characterization
a
to
kind
of
of
relevant
usages ranging from one extreme
apply
typology
to the opposite. These usages may be described as two outlined directions
of precization.
Only a hint of the usages will be given here by calling one extremity
'the private usage of 'private enterprise",
noting that typical of this
of the first part of the expression.
usage
is its stressing
phasizes
only private undertakings
it does not matter
authorities:
public
initiative
is displayed.
The opposite
The
usage
controlled
em
relatively
slightly
by
to what extent any enterprise or
usage is in turn called 'the enterprise
usage of'private
enterprise",
stressing the last part of the expression.
For this usage the display of enterprise and initiative is decisive:
it does
not matter how private or public the activity is.
to this scale from an extremely
'enter
'private' to an extremely
a
was
an
from
gradation
imagined
extremely eulogistic
prise' usage,
(or 'plus') usage, which emphasizes only generally accepted and applauded
of private enterprise activity, to an extremely dyslogistic
characteristics
Similar
(or
'minus')
usage
in which
generally
unacceptable
characteristics
are
emphasized.
The 'private' and 'enterprise' usages were each represented by 69 possible
answers, the 'plus' and 'minus' usages by 27 possibilities
each, and the
were such
The 'neutral' possibilities
'neutral' usage by 33 possibilities.
panel could not see
usages. The frequency
2234, 'enterprise'
3464, 'plus'
'private'
1993. The average number of respondents
that the semantical
the four
other
that they indicated any one of
of each usage ran as follows:
1569, 'minus'
312, 'neutral'
who chose a 'private' possibility
and a 'neutral' possibility
32, an 'enterprise' possibility
a
and
'minus'
14.
57,
'plus' possibility
possibility
was
51 each,
a
'index of usage' of a given class is computed from six sets of answers
in the following manner.
From the sum of the 'plus' and 'enterprise'
answers one subtracts the sum of the 'private', the 'private' - 'plus',
and the 'private' - 'minus' answers. This result is divided by the total
number of answers of the given class to give the index, 'U'. ('Neutral'
- 'minus'
answers are ignored here. There were no possible
'enterprise'
answers.) Thus the index pertains to the scale from the pure 'private'
An
76
SYSTEM
THE
OF
ENTERPRISE
PRIVATE
to the pure 'enterprise' usage as well as the scale from a usage
wanting to make a eulogism of 'private enterprise' to a usage which tends
to make it a dyslogism. An index of 2 indicates an extreme 'enterprise'
usage
and 'plus' usage, whereas an index of 0 points to a usage which is neutral
in all the mentioned
respects. Not least out of regard to the bias analysis
some
most
of
the
below,
significant usage indices will be cited. The
'r' - all the respon
of
denote
classes
subscripts
respondents as follows:
'2' and Christian Democrats),
'1' - rightists (Conservatives
dents,
'3'
others (Labourites and Liberals),
Communists,
'p'
politicians,
'o'
-
'b'
officials,
-
businessmen.
Ur was .87, which was consistent with what was expected. Ui was 1.22.
the impression
that
the average,
then Ui accents
If Ur represents
a
more
content
to
than average tend
give 'private enterprise'
rightists
or even must
it into something
that everybody might
which makes
or not.
are
control
of
whether
they
against public
applaud, irrespective
of the subgroups of
interesting were the interrelationships
was
was
was
1.67. It is obvious
and
the rightists. Uip
Un>
.63, Ui0
.60,
that the high index Ui is due to the rightist businessmen's usage. The
and officials
less than average use the expression
rightist politicians
Still more
'private enterprise' stressing both 'enterprise' and a eulogistic meaning.
But the latter two subgroups also show contrasting usages. Thus the
stress the 'plus' aspect more than the officials, whereas
they
politicians
were
stress an 'enterprise' usage less. Corresponding
interrelationships
found among the Communist
.45, U2P was ?1.28,
groups. U2 was
U20 was .25, and U2b was 1.81. The contrast between U2p and U2b was
result of the entire study. U3, for the sake of
the most bewildering
was
comparison,
'V, of the same ten
for a given class is
thus: from the number of 'adherents' one subtracts the number
of the bias analysis the 'valence index',
of respondents will also be cited. The V
On behalf
classes
.64.
computed
of 'adversaries'
; the result is divided by the total number of respondents
in the given class; and this result ismultiplied
by 2. Vr was 1.11, Vi was
1.87, V2 was .00, V2P was
.91, Vip was 2.00, Vi0 was 1.66, Vib was
?1.43,
On
V20
was
.00, V2b
was
1.67,
the basis of the above data
and misuse
of 'private enterprise'
and
V3
was
.69.
respect to the use
in the current political debate will now
some conclusions
with
77
HERMAN
TENNESSEN
The bias analysis deals primarily with the reasons, linguistic
(or ethical), for the use of 'private enter
(or technical) and psychological
a
under
the exchange of
in
certain circumstances,
such
way
that,
prise'
becomes
futile.
in
debate
opinions
be discussed.
only a few of the more striking results of the study can be
that the explicit verbal agreement within
It was predicted
considered.
the large heterogeneous
rightist group very often disguised an implicit
or real, disagreement.
The Vi =
indicates a
non-verbal,
.91, which
of
be
unanimous
dubious
acceptance
nearly
private enterprise, might
In this outline
the background
of the varieties of Ui. A high U index shows a
tendency to dilute and sweeten the concept of private enterprise so that it
ismore palatable but also renders no effect. It will therefore be ineffective
against
to argue against
any kind of public control
enterprise, since 'private enterprise'
private
by referring to ill effects on
is used with such stress on
features that the U index falls
applauded
'enterprise' and commonly
between 1 and 2. On these grounds it will obviously be possible to expose
the agreement of the rightists as a 'mock agreement'
or, in a term of
Arne Naess, a 'pseudo-agreement'.
(It should, however, be stressed that
of 'mock agreement'
the given examples
will not satisfy Naess'
criteria of
'pseudo-agreement'.)
are
in the form of imagined
two examples of mock
agreement
consistent with the results of the study.
'We must go in for private enterprise'.
I. All the rightists:
'Rightist'
must
'We
go in for private enterprise so we have to make an
politicians:
Here
discussions
effort
to abolish
private
all those
government
regulations
which
are clogs
to
enterprise'.
entrepreneurs:
'Rightist'
could only be displayed
'On the contrary,
today private
enterprise
to government
control and regula
if submitted
tions'.
:
as in I.) Rightist
II. (All rightists and rightist politicians
entrepreneurs
'There is no reason why private enterprise cannot be shattered even in a
society'.
completely nationalized
'Enforcing control of new investments would be
Rightist
politicians:
the private enterprise in a society'.
=
these
in
2,
(Vip
examples were eager 'adherents'
subgroups
=
the
but
Vib
enterprise'a more'burning',
1.87),
politicians give'private
It was hypothesized,
than the entrepreneurs.
with
'mordant' meaning
sufficient
Both
78
to shatter
THE SYSTEM OF PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE
the support of the entire study, that mock agreements of the type exem
plified were due to the described ambiguity of 'private enterprise'.
A corresponding
mock
the Communists
agreement was found within
formed the most extreme contrasts
the politicians and businessmen
regard to both V index and U index. These two groups, which
on the meaning
so markedly
of 'private enterprise',
showed,
disagreed
a
in
and
with
the
however,
agreement
striking uniformity
disagreement
where
with
to the questions
Their
reactions
newspaper
quotations.
concerning
correct or incorrect usage were greatly dispersed.
One might
say that if private enterprise were a pie, the Communist
politicians would include only those ingredients which would burn and
bite every tongue, whereas ifCommunist businessmen were the confection
ers their pie would be eaten with relish by everyone. If the groups were
like pie?', one would answer 'No', the other 'Yes', the
taking 'pie' in the sense of 'politician pie', and the latter taking
in
the sense of 'business pie'. If a 'business pie' were put before the
'pie'
politicians,
they would snatch at it. On the other hand, the businessmen
asked,
former
would
'Do you
be wholly
incapable
run like this:
might
Politician:
private
'As a matter
of digesting
of course,
the 'politician
we Communists
pie'. A dialogue
are adversaries
of
enterprise'.
'On the contrary. Isn't it true that we have recently gone in
for production committees and advisory bodies to make the workers more
directly interested in their work and with that to strengthen the private
Businessman:
of the great body of people?'
'To be sure. But then you evidently mean something quite
different from what we mean by 'private enterprise'. To us private initia
tive is something firmly bound to a purely conservative
society'.
'What peculiar usage! We
Businessman:
too, of course, abhor any
conservatism. But we for our part think of private enterprise as a common
enterprise
Politician:
human
property...'.
Politician:
strange
'Yes indeed. We
too would
favour private
enterprise
in that
sense of the term'.
the ambiguity
linguistic cause of misunderstanding,
of 'private enterprise', has been chiefly dealt with. It was hitherto simply
assumed that those taking part in discussions accept the same pattern of
Thus far the technical
79
HERMAN
TENNESSEN
successful exchange of opinion and that every deviation from that pattern
runs counter to the wishes of the participants.
But this is not always a
norms
have
which
the
they esteem higher
certainty. Perhaps
participants
than that of successful exchange of opinion. Perhaps
they hold that the
higher ends are better served by deviating from the pattern and using
the ambiguity of the slogan to reach mock agreements or disagreements.
Space does not permit a complete survey of the origin of the ambiguity
for which
it is more or less
enterprise' and the purposes
consciously used in the current political debate by different social groups.
However, with regard to the rightist group something may be said.
as a standard of the liberals,
The slogan 'private enterprise' originated
of
'private
it has become
the standard of the rightist in his fight
and gradually
state
it might be queried whether
control. However,
those who
against
created the phrase, and with brilliant intuition fused the words
'private'
also veiled and glossed
and 'enterprise' into such a crafty catchword,
over much of the more exact meaning
intended. Indeed, this often proves
to keep open the possibil
to be tactically ingenious, for it is advantageous
ity of 'elastic' usage. Initially, attention may be drawn to some obvious
'That is
of some regulation or enterprise of government.
ill consequence
the
one
consequence',
'when
says,
nationalization
paralyzes
I
what
call 'private enterprise'.
Perhaps the user of the slogan has been
a
to
find
vivid, attractive, and vigorous expression. On the other
trying
we
tries to draw the
may imagine that he more or less consciously
hand,
to certain 'difficulties of subsumption'.
attention of his audience
That
means
what
the
is to say, the hearer never distinguishes
speaker
(1)
by
would
the new expression from (2) (if (1) is detected) whether or not the facts
the expression by definition is applied to, are really included.1)
Instead the hearer conceives
the above remark partly as an illustration
of what the speaker means by 'private enterprise'. At the same time this
which
prevents him from holding a critical attitude toward what he takes to be
the real content of the remark, for he also partly conceives it as an asser
or the
to government
tion pertaining
enterprise versus free competition
like.
This
is clearly an advantage
!) Some
Preciseness
research
Oslo,
Socio-semantical
80
seems
1953,
Studies',
to the rightists who
to confirm
pp.
267-9,
Synthese
adopted
this
and
'private enter
theory. Cf. Arne Naess,
Interpretation
the author's The
Fight
against Revelation
VIII
(1951),
pp.
225-34.
and
in
THE
SYSTEM
OF
PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE
confusing what the expression means with claims of what
private enterprise is due to and leads to, the rightist group can be extended
and consolidated.
Proselytes may be attracted by the prospect of strength
an
undoubted
social good. Potential
renegades may be deterred
ening
private enterprise, one consequently
by being told that, by opposing
prise'.
By
or even increase the
some social evil. In short, to consolidate
V
to
increase
index
of 'private enter
it
is
the
group,
necessary
'rightist'
is
U
index.
and
done
its
But
the ideological
this
easily
by increasing
prise'
leaders of the 'rightists' are then faced with the following dilemma. On
promotes
the one hand
the public regulation of industry.
they want to counteract
In order that regulation should have consequences
for private enterprise,
a
must
have
rather
'private' and not particularly
'private enterprise'
be
close to 0 and never higher
U
the
should
i.e.,
eulogistic connotation,
the 'rightists' want a powerful banner which
can attract as many people as possible, which
indicates increasing U
toward 2. The latter will make
'private enterprise' well adapted for
for discouraging
and
but
unsuitable
consolidating
recruiting,
public
than .60. On
the other hand
regulation if it covers something
as by a salesman, by the president
ly as by the managing
director
questions).
Special interests have been drawn
and Communists.
'by a professor as manifestly
of the Price Control Board as manifest
'
of 'Hydro'
(from one of the passage
exercised
to the business
groups of both 'rightists'
show
why they
high V and U indices,
seems
to be the following.
respect to the 'rightists',
especially the leading figures interviewed, were actually
If one wonders
the answer, with
The businessmen,
not so displeased with
in 1948 as
the public regulation found in Norway
or
to
to
other
be
the
'rightist' politicians
according
ideologists.
they ought
But still they want to conform with these leaders and the programs of
their party, i.e., they like the bakers, but dislike some of their pies.
One thing can be done: fill the pies with more palatable ingredients and
use the catchy battle cry of olden days, 'Eat more pies'.
less interesting are the reactions of the 'leftist' groups to the popular
are in a dilemma similar to
slogan 'private enterprise'. The Communists
No
that of the 'rightists'. Two alternatives are open. On the one hand they
can depreciate private enterprise. For this purpose
it is useful to give
a
can easily be
which
dislike
against
'private enterprise'
signification
=
avenue.
follow
this
stirred up. The Communist
(V2P
politicians
81
HERMAN
?
TENNESSEN
= ?
is to give it a eulogistic
1.28) The other alternative
and to a slight extent the
the 'leftists' especially,
signification which
'Eat more pies',
'rightists', are likely to favour. They join the chorus,
but the pies are filled with delicacies which are especially made
for
1.43, U2p
'leftists', whereas the 'rightists' can hardly stomach them. This is reflected
=
=
in the indices of the Communist
businessmen.
1.67, U2b
(V2
1.81)
of the differing indices of Communist
explanations
politicians
are possible. It may be worthwhile
to keep in view that
and businessmen
Communist
the Norwegian
Party, which before the war obtained 2.2 %
Different
of the total vote, had after the war increased its share to 11.9%. Most
likely the politicians belonged to the old stock, but the others, especially
the businessmen,
convey the impression of being fairly new but enthusias
tic proselytes. Thus itmight be quite reasonably expected that adherence
to bourgeois
slogans
'private enterprise'
for a long time.
should be greater among businessmen with whom
has had a prominent place and an attractive sound
topics treated in this study. It seems that this sort of empirio
semantical study has not been carried out before. (1) As a 'slogan analysis'
the study tried to (a) chart the trends of the usages of an expression and
(b) determine how these usages occur within social and other groupings.
New
to indicate, on the basis of
(2) As a 'bias analysis' the study attempted
these facts, (a) how the expression can be used for expediency
in debate
and techniques behind the
and (b) the symptoms of unethical motives
choice of usage. (3) As a 'subsumption analysis' the study considered the
overlooked
frequently
trying to form classes
difficulties which
confront
more
or
of
less free answers
in
any investigator
under different cat
egories. Study of the coding of open-ended questions especially emphasizes
the difficulty of the investigator in giving a detailed account of the auxiliary
led him from the observation
of the data
hypotheses which presumably
to the final subsumption.
new procedures were (1) the use of synonym
techniques. Among the
connotation
and denotation
ity questions, passage questions,
questions,
use
measure
to
of
the
the
of intention,
definiteness
(2)
pitfalls
questions,
New
and
(3) the use
of a semantical
panel
for
the coding
of open-ended
questions.
Main
82
results.
(1) The
striking extent of positive
attitudes
toward what
is
THE
held
SYSTEM
OF
PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE
to be private enterprise, not limited to 'rightists' and business
the Communists:
the
(2) The very different attitudes within
groups.
the clearly
undoubtedly
politicians,
negative attitude of the Communist
of
Communist
and
the
attitude
the
neutral
attitude
businessmen,
positive
The
officials.
the
of the Communist
among
pseudo-agreement
(3)
the leftists.
among
(5) The
(4) The pseudo-disagreement
of 'private enterprise' by different
exposure of the systematic misuse
social groups in their fight for power in modern
society.
rightists.
the
of such studies. If carried out more extensively,
here
be
studies,
several,
might
styled 'empirio-semanticaP,
will be mentioned.
(1) In logical analysis, semantics, or any
research the investigator might become a little more careful
Effects
effects of such
of which
two
kind of social
and sceptical.
In particular,
the investigator might be expected to become more con
scious of some of the auxiliary hypotheses
used in coding open-ended
answers
to
free
under certain categories or
in
subsume
order
questions
in order to subsume occurrences of an expression under rules of usage.
like this might have some influence on political debate.
could
make
it easier to comply with commonly
they
Maybe
accepted
more difficult to misuse
of
discussion
and
patterns
language for propa
gandiste purposes, because people would gradually become more sceptical
of slogans and stereotypes of any kind. Such 'propaganda against prop
aganda' might enable political debate to become a little more
straight
(2) Finally,
forward
studies
and a little less crooked
and biased.
83