Emotive Meaning in Political Language

Abstract

The paper is devoted to emotive language using as one of a real argument characteristic. The real argument is regarded in the context of informal logic approach to argumentation. The topicality of considered problematic relates to the bright cases of emotive words used in the current political life. In the paper, I analyze, firstly, the specific features of a real argument which is used in everyday and public communication. Secondly, I review the sense of “emotive meaning” notion proposed by Charles Stevenson in relation to “descriptive meaning.” Thirdly, I consider the distinction between a good argument and an effective argument in the theoretical and practical perspective. Further, I describe and analyze certain practical cases of real political speech trying to understand the specificity of the audience’s conviction depending on emotive words used by the speaker. The result of this research is making clear the notion of emotive meaning and its place in communication, inter alia in political life.