In the context of human groups and human sub-groups, I’m not sure “ordinary” member of the group is used differently than “true” member of the group. Witness those who claim the community organizer is not “really” black because he did not live the ordinary life experiences of a black male child (i.e. he didn’t live in a poverty stricken inner city while growing up).
I’m inclined to argue, as some linguists would, that tabooing “ordinary” is impossible in this context, because people are intuitive essentialists, and that generic statements make reference to such postulated essences, which define what makes for an “ordinary” X. (Hence a lot of Aristotelian nonsense.)
This does, indeed, fit very well with your observation—with which I agree—that sometimes, the borderline between “ordinary” and “true/real” becomes blurred. However, I think one should still be wary of suspecting mentions of “extraordinary” of being censored no-true-Scotsman-arguments without further evidence.
Perhaps taboo “ordinary” and “true”?
In the context of human groups and human sub-groups, I’m not sure “ordinary” member of the group is used differently than “true” member of the group. Witness those who claim the community organizer is not “really” black because he did not live the ordinary life experiences of a black male child (i.e. he didn’t live in a poverty stricken inner city while growing up).
I’m inclined to argue, as some linguists would, that tabooing “ordinary” is impossible in this context, because people are intuitive essentialists, and that generic statements make reference to such postulated essences, which define what makes for an “ordinary” X. (Hence a lot of Aristotelian nonsense.)
This does, indeed, fit very well with your observation—with which I agree—that sometimes, the borderline between “ordinary” and “true/real” becomes blurred. However, I think one should still be wary of suspecting mentions of “extraordinary” of being censored no-true-Scotsman-arguments without further evidence.