@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:
hkhlcq wrote:
We hear often "the liberation of humanity". Can we say "Humanity is liberated"? And can the meaning of "humanity" in both refer to "the state of being human" as well as "human beings collectively"?
"The liberation of humanity" and "humanity is liberated" don't mean the same thing. In regard to the meaning of "humanity," it cannot refer to both "the state of being human" as well as "human beings collectively" without being ambiguous.
Yes, such terms can be very ambiguous until contextualized. That's part of why they function so well as ideological reverse mechanisms.
E.g someone religious could say humanity should be liberated from sin and then someone secular could say humanity should be liberated from religion. Then the religious person could say that religion is fundamental to humanity; to which the secular person could respond that religion alienates people from their fundamental humanity.
Welcome to the culture wars.
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