Path: csiph.com!x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net!newsfeed.hal-mli.net!feeder3.hal-mli.net!nx02.iad01.newshosting.com!newshosting.com!newsfeed.kamp.net!newsfeed.kamp.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: blmblm@myrealbox.com Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.programmer Subject: Re: Class.forName().newInstance() vs new Date: 22 Jun 2011 20:01:40 GMT Organization: None Lines: 44 Message-ID: <96f013F46aU4@mid.individual.net> References: X-Trace: individual.net qgYGE2TQXMcY400kUrA7FAn81+da9sjV6avgP7VlkVWbTAYtgb X-Orig-Path: not-for-mail Cancel-Lock: sha1:IDQlJyILfJCWyneVsMEpHRHN2YE= X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test76 (Apr 2, 2001) Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.java.programmer:5544 In article , Michael Wojcik wrote: > Arved Sandstrom wrote: > > > > The point being, I've found that obfuscatory English is used as a weapon > > to disguise incompetence and inefficiencies, or worse. I've seen some > > pretty horrible wastage of taxpayer money precisely because muddy and > > weaselly English let all the players wriggle out of accountability, and > > often enough even get rewarded for their previous disaster. > > > > So that's why I like clear English. > > This worry is ancient, of course, if we can substitute other languages > for English. > > It's the overt root of the battle between the Periclean rhetors > (Plato, Socrates, Isocrates) and the Sophists: the Pericleans claimed > that ethics was inherent in rhetoric, and so using language to > persuade to an incorrect end was an unethical use of language (and not > just an unethical act in general), while the Sophists argued that it > was fine to formulate an argument in favor of an unethical end, if > your broader purpose was good.[1,2] > > This argument over the coupling of rhetoric and ethics is older than > the ancient Greek rhetors - you can find versions of it in various > ancient cultures [3] - and it continues to this day [4]. > Someone should perhaps mention, in this context, George Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" [*]? one of my favorites, which seems to make a similar connection between language and ethics. [*] I'd say "GIYF", but maybe it would be worthwhile for me to save people a bit of time .... Good heavens, there's a Wikipedia article! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Language with links at the bottom to several versions of the original text. [ snip ] -- B. L. Massingill ObDisclaimer: I don't speak for my employers; they return the favor.