"Synantonyms"

30 August 10

Had the recent good fortune in my grad school course on Strategic Management to hear Jeremy Sherman. He introduced his concept on his coined word, “synantonyms”- moral principles that descriptively are synonyms; but prescriptively are antonyms. He elaborates on this in a blog post here. Consider the relationship between these terms:

“Judgmental (bad) and discernment (good)
Spineless (bad) vs. flexible (good)
Pigheaded (bad) vs steadfast (good)
Co-dependent (bad) vs. supportive (good)
Addicted (bad) vs. dedicated (good)
In denial (bad) vs. Hopeful (good)
Pessimistic (bad) vs. optimistic (good)
Unrealistic (bad) vs. Ambitious (good)
Greedy (bad) vs. Saving for a rainy day (good)
Uncaring (bad) vs. Focusing elsewhere (good)”

Jeremy asserts, “We turn, “I don’t like it” into “It’s morally wrong.” We turn “I want it” into “Morality demands that I should have it.”

So much more to dig into here, but in general it leaves me questioning myself, “What moral justifications might I be making with my language? And does that serve me, others, or the world?”

— Margaret Hartwell

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