Are vagueness and ambiguity shortcomings of language or can they be viewed as positive aspects of language? (TOK)
While it is easy to condemn vagueness and ambiguity as shortcomings of language as a way of knowing, it is also important to consider the possible advantages these characteristics may offer. I would like to focus on language’s ambiguity.
While ambiguity of language is something to be avoided at all costs in some areas of knowledge, such as the Natural Sciences and Mathematics, in other areas of knowledge is can be an important tool to encourage discussion and debate. If it weren’t for the ambiguity of language, it is much less likely that literature would be studied to the degree that it is in our society. The reason that literature is such a powerful force in human society is that it not only communicates and spreads ideas and opinions but it also invites the reader to interpret the words in their own way based on their personal biases. While a new and personal interpretation of the building plan of a bridge may not be desirable (since most of us do not want to die), an original interpretation of a piece of literature such as Orwell’s 1984 is an opportunity to develop a new school of thought. If it weren’t for the ambiguity of language, everybody who read a poem by Yeats would interpret the work in exactly the same way. When considered in this manner, the lack of ambiguity of language could be considered a shortcoming as it would stifle creative and individual thinking.
Ironically, language’s ambiguity is in itself ambiguous. It can be a shortcoming or a strength, but one thing is for certain, language’s ambiguity in inherent.