Does political correctness harm society?

People characterize political correctness as a derogatory term to silence others

Question: Does political correctness harm society?
Position‹2 of 2: No, political correctness doesn't harm society
Argument‹2 of 4›: People characterize political correctness as a derogatory term to silence others

If a person claims that their speech faces backlash because it breaks the status quo, they can deflect criticism of it.

The argument

Supporters of the position hold that the damage commonly attributed to political correctness is better explained as an artefact of how the term is used. The pattern they point to is a familiar sequence in public discourse: a prominent individual makes a statement that draws criticism, typically a statement directed at a disadvantaged group, and the response is not a defence of the statement on its merits but a complaint that political correctness is responsible for the reaction. On this view the substitution is self-serving, because attributing the unpopularity of a position to a broad cultural sense of propriety is far easier than showing the position to be defensible. The speaker is relieved of the burden of argument and recast as a victim of a climate rather than the author of a claim. The second half of the argument concerns what the term actually denotes once that rhetorical use is set aside. Intrinsically, proponents argue, political correctness is not negative at all: it names nothing more than conforming to understood norms of language and behaviour that prevent making disadvantaged people uncomfortable. Described plainly, that is an ordinary courtesy rather than a constraint on thought, and other social conventions governing speech work in much the same way without attracting comparable alarm. Putting the two halves together yields the conclusion supporters draw. If the concept is benign, and the hostility surrounding it comes from people with an interest in deflecting criticism of their own remarks, then the negative connotation the phrase now carries is something that has been done to it rather than something it earned. Political correctness has been selfishly demonised by those it inconvenienced, and a term pressed into service as a shield against criticism cannot fairly be counted as a harm that political correctness has inflicted on society.

Premises

[P1]When prominent people are criticized for statements targeting disadvantaged groups, they blame "political correctness" rather than defend the statement's merit. [P2] Intrinsically, political correctness is not negative — it simply means conforming to norms that avoid making the disadvantaged uncomfortable. [P3] By weaponizing the term to deflect criticism, people have selfishly demonized a positive concept and given it a negative connotation. [C] Therefore, because people characterize political correctness as a derogatory term to silence others, political correctness does not harm society.

Counter-arguments

Although some individuals might disparage political correctness for selfish reasons, it is wrong to assume that every critic of this standard is motivated in this way. Many could genuinely be distressed by political correctness, recognizing its restrictive nature and potential to harm our communities. The ill-intentioned criticism of political correctness does not negate valid concern about this standard.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Even granting that some people invoke the term to deflect criticism, the premise describes a rhetorical habit and establishes nothing about the practice itself. [Rejecting P2] The definition offered — conforming to norms that avoid discomfort for the disadvantaged — builds the favourable verdict into the term. The rival position disputes exactly that characterisation, holding that what is at issue is the scope of those norms and how they are enforced. [Rejecting P3] The conclusion does not follow. Showing that some critics are motivated by self-interest leaves the substance of their objections untouched, which is the counter-argument's point that bad-faith criticism does not dispose of good-faith concern.

Proponents cited

Moira Weigel
“There is an obvious contradiction involved in complaining at length, to an audience of hundreds of millions of people, that you are being silenced. But this idea – that there is a set of powerful, unnamed actors, who are trying to control everything you do, right down to the words you use – is trending globally right now. Britain’s rightwing tabloids issue frequent denunciations of “political correctness gone mad” and rail against the smug hypocrisy of the “metropolitan elite”. In Germany, conservative journalists and politicians are making similar complaints: after the assaults on women in Cologne last New Year’s Eve, for instance, the chief of police Rainer Wendt said that leftists pressuring officers to be politisch korrekt had prevented them from doing their jobs. In France, Marine Le Pen of the Front National has condemned more traditional conservatives as “paralysed by their fear of confronting political correctness”.”
Julia Serano
“To put it another way, “political correctness” is not an ideology, nor is it a specific set of behaviors. It is simply a slur that people utter when they want to dismiss an expression of social justice activism that they do not like. One person’s “political correctness” is another person’s common decency or righteous activism.”