Someone

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Sextus

#213686 Sun, 09 Apr 06 02:11 AM

"I employ the term 'dogmatist' in the sense in which S. uses dogmatikos, namely, to designate someone who makes positive or negative assertions about the nature of things, on the basis of what they/he/the person consider/considers to be evidence and reasoned arguments and doctrines."

Which option should I use to refer back to "someone"?

Thanks

Sextus

Joined on Sat, Nov 6 2004

Buenos Aires

Regular Member (731)

Negatives

Clive

#213689 Sun, 09 Apr 06 02:34 AM

Hi Sextus,

How about using 'one'?

ie "I employ the term 'dogmatist' in the sense in which S. uses dogmatikos, namely, to designate one who makes positive or negative assertions about the nature of things, on the basis of what one considers to be evidence and reasoned arguments and doctrines."

Do you feel you need the comma after 'things'? Perhaps a comma after 'evidence' rather than 'and'?

Is the term 'dogmatist' compatible with one who is influenced by doctrines?

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (21,191)

El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

Commas, Negatives

Sextus

#213696 Sun, 09 Apr 06 03:08 AM

Hi Clive, thanks for the answers.

"I employ the term 'dogmatist' in the sense in which S. uses dogmatikos, namely, to designate one who makes positive or negative assertions about the nature of things, on the basis of what one considers to be evidence and reasoned arguments and doctrines."

This may work, but I'm not completely sure that it's clear enough. In any case "he" and "they" may be used to refer to someone whose gender is not known. But I know there are people who dislike both usages.

Do you feel you need the comma after 'things'? Perhaps a comma after 'evidence' rather than 'and'?

Yes, I should remove that comma. Regarding "and", the point is that "reasoned" goes with both "arguments" and "doctrines."

Is the term 'dogmatist' compatible with one who is influenced by doctrines?

Yes, in its technical usage.

Cheers, Sextus

Sextus

Commas, Genders, Negatives

milky

#213745 Sun, 09 Apr 06 10:34 AM

Sextus wrote:

"I employ the term 'dogmatist' in the sense in which S. uses dogmatikos, namely, to designate someone who makes positive or negative assertions about the nature of things, on the basis of what they/he/the person consider/considers to be evidence and reasoned arguments and doctrines."

Which option should I use to refer back to "someone"?

Thanks

Commonly, academic texts use "he".

milky

Joined on Thu, Jan 15 2004

Senior Member (3,149)

Hume said that if we had perfect or complete descriptive knowledge of reality, we could not, by reasoning, derive a single valid "ought".

Negatives

Sextus

#213801 Sun, 09 Apr 06 03:38 PM

Perhaps the best solution is to say "he or she", so no one will find it offensive (mostly feminists).

Sextus

MrPedantic

#213913 Mon, 10 Apr 06 12:48 AM

I don't think you can win with this one.

If you use "they", people who think they know about grammar will object. If you use "he", people who think they know about feminism will object. If you use "he or she", people who think they know about style will object.

Maybe: "...to designate those who...", followed by "they".

MrP

MrPedantic

Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004

Veteran Member (12,053)

...opella forensis / adducit febris...

Grammar

Sextus

#213946 Mon, 10 Apr 06 05:22 AM

Thanks P.

The problem is that dogmatikos is singular, so it sounds weird to me to say "those who". I think I'll stick to "he". Even if I hate feminists, I don't think this usage may be taken as evidence.