Philosophers sometimes claim that they are using terms in the way ordinary people use those terms. Here, I express some criticism of these claims.

I believe more criticism is warranted. Another point I will push in future posts is that the excessive and parochial theorizing philosophers engage in causes them to become increasingly disconnected from ordinary thought and practice when doing philosophy, and that they become increasingly unable to accurately think about how terms and concepts are used in everyday discourse.

In other words, far from philosophers being experts on ordinary thought in virtue of their training, I think they frequently render themselves systematically unable to think in ordinary terms. While they present themselves as competent speakers of the languages they are fluent in, expertise in ordinary contexts does not necessarily generalize to or ensure expertise outside those contexts.

There is a contextual chasm between ordinary and philosophical modes of discourse, and philosophers who presume discourse in the latter draws on and accurately reflects the former will often be wrong.