Rectify the Names

In the Analects of Confucius, there is this segment on the importance of precise language:

Tsze-lu said, ‘The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?’

The Master replied, ‘What is necessary is to rectify names.’

‘So, indeed!’ said Tsze-lu. ‘You are wide of the mark! Why must there be such rectification?’

The Master said, ‘How uncultivated you are, Yu! A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve.

‘If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.

This came to mind when reading Jonathon Van Maren’s latest piece, “How Slovenian Campaigners Beat Euthanasia.”

It’s a short, inspiring, and instructive read about the power of coalition-building and, most especially, the crucial importance of precise language, of rectifying the terms we use in public discourse on controversial moral questions.

Aleš Primc, a leader in the successful campaign to defeat euthanasia in a Slovenian referendum, said: “We decided not to speak the manipulative language of the poisoning lobby.”

As if echoing the Confucian wisdom above, Primc advised:

Prepare your language. Do not use any of the words used by the poisoning lobby. The global poisoning lobby has created a manipulative language of patient poisoning designed to completely manipulate people. When opponents of patient poisoning use this language, despite their best intentions, they are unwittingly working in the interests of the poisoning lobby.

In a country that has come to speak about lethal injections as “MAID provisions”, it is critical that we rectify the names we use to speak about state-sponsored suicide.

When used to intentionally end patients’ lives, the drugs do not deserve to be called “medications.” The word “medication” comes from the meaning “to heal”, “to cure”, and “to take appropriate measures.” By contrast, the word poison refers to “a deadly substance.”

Accordingly, we have much to learn from our Slovenian friends in rectifying the names.