Mary Kate McGowan, "Just Words: On Speech and Hidden Harm" (Oxford UP, 2019)
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What is the introductory overview of the episode and who are the hosts and sponsor?
Hi everyone, this is Marshall Poe. I'm the founder of the New Books Network, and I'm also a historian. I used to be a history professor, and I love maps. So I'm especially happy to tell you that this episode is sponsored by What's Your Map, which was the winner of the best education podcast at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. What's Your Map is hosted by historian and prize-winning author, Professor Jerry Broughton. In each episode, he invites a guest to share. A map close to their heart and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. I can tell you I've listened and it's fascinating. The podcast is in its sixth series and is enjoyed by audiences around the globe. You can explore all the maps in the podcast at occulehyphenmundi.com while you listen.
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Hello, thanks for joining us for this episode of New Books in Philosophy, which is part of the New Books Network. I'm Robert Talese, I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co-host the program with Carrie Figder, Alexis McLeod, and Sarah Tyson. My guest today is Mary Kate McGowan. Mary Kate is the Margaret Capp Distinguished Alumna Professor of Philosophy at Wellesley College. She works primarily in metaphysics, philosophy of language, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of law. Her new book is titled Just Words on Speech and Hidden Harm. It's recently been published by Oxford University Press. We're all familiar with the ways in which speech can cause harm. For example, speech can incite wrongful acts, and I suppose we're also familiar with contexts in which a person who occupies a position of authority can harm others simply by speaking, as when a boss announces and thereby institutes a discriminatory office policy.
In cases like that, the announcement is itself a harm. in addition to the harm that the instituted policy causes. That is, the boss's announcement constitutes a harm, does not only and does not only cause harm. Once we've seen the ways in which authoritative speech can constitute harm, we might look for other mechanisms than speaker authority, by means of which speech can be constitutively harmful. Now in her new book, Mary Kate McGowan identifies a previously overlooked mechanism by which speech can be harmed. On her analysis, one needn't be positioned in an authoritative role. To speak sin to speak in ways that constitute harm. Rather, everyday communicative acts can constitute and not simply cause
So there's a lot to talk about as there normally is. But let's begin with our guest. Hello, Mary Kate.
Hello, Bob. How are you?
I'm good. How are you today?
Very well, thank you.
Well, thanks for joining us on the programme. Why don't you start us off by telling us a little bit about yourself?
Well, I teach at Walsey College, where I was also an undergraduate in philosophy and mathematics. I grew up nearby, uh, in the New Bedford area of Massachusetts and I always thought philosophically, so much so that I think I might have been a bit of an irritant to my teachers prior to getting to college where uh they enjoyed and appreciated uh people who think of it too much. So um I think I was always inclined to think philosophically. But it wasn't until I got to college when I was exposed to uh the discipline of philosophy. Um and I didn't think of going into the profession. I just never occurred to me that that was something that I could do. think I thought that you had to be born into an academic family to become a professor or something like that, but
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the introductory overview of the episode and who are the hosts and sponsor?
0:00–8:08
2
How does Mary Kate McGowan define “speech that constitutes harm” beyond authority?
8:08–25:17
3
What is the “decoding picture” of language and why does McGowan argue it’s misleading?
25:17–54:27
4
How does the Neo‑Gricean framework explain everyday communication and inferential meaning?
54:27–1:02:41
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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