thecritic.co.uk
2025-04-11
The journalist Benjamin Ryan and the commentator Helen Pluckrose have recently posted thoughtful essays about the vexed issue of pronouns, with the titles "Why I Use Trans People's Preferred Pronouns" and "The Counterproductiveness of Vitriolic Gender-Warring". I have great respect for both Benjamin and Helen, and above all for their tireless work in defense of liberal principles and science; furthermore, Helen is a personal friend. Nevertheless, I disagree with some (not all) of what they have written in these essays, and I would like to explain why.
But first, let me mention some things with which I agree wholeheartedly. All of us should avoid being gratuitously nasty to anyone; we should refrain from prescribing to other people what beliefs they must hold or what terminology they must use (though we of course retain the right to present our arguments); we should accept that reasonable and fair-minded people may come to different conclusions about controversial issues; and consequently, we should not demonise those whose opinions or judgments differ from our own.
But Benjamin and Helen have missed, in my opinion, some important considerations when it comes to pronouns: namely, that we need not only to defend freedom of expression (on all sides) and to urge moderation in language (again on all sides), but also to promote the clarity of thought and debate. And for this latter reason it matters a lot what words we use.