I can see why seeing this email would be upsetting and I agree it is okay to feel upset about it and I wish Bostrom had enough sense to never have written it.
However, and I admit this is something of a quibble, I think we should take a nuanced position on the use-mention distinction, firstly because there’s a serious question about how much collapsing this distinction makes and secondly since norms around this seem to now be different from the time when this email was written.
The use-mention distinction doesn’t apply to Bostrom’s ’97 email.
He wasn’t discussing the origin of the N-word.
He wasn’t analyzing a quotation, or discussing the use of the term.
He declared, proudly, his belief in a false, racist trope of white superiority,
& attempted to give that declaration a veneer of virtue by contrasting it to an actively hateful, more directly antagonistic statement.
He imagined a “real” racist to compare himself to.
Using the N-word was a rhetorical choice in service of his aim.
It’s not a mention, it’s a usage.
He used it in ’97 to make his claim of white superiority more palatable.
Today, many people are still focusing on that word as intended,
rather than directly asking about the content -
Does Bostrom still believe there’s a white race with superior intelligence?
I can see why seeing this email would be upsetting and I agree it is okay to feel upset about it and I wish Bostrom had enough sense to never have written it.
However, and I admit this is something of a quibble, I think we should take a nuanced position on the use-mention distinction, firstly because there’s a serious question about how much collapsing this distinction makes and secondly since norms around this seem to now be different from the time when this email was written.
The use-mention distinction doesn’t apply to Bostrom’s ’97 email.
He wasn’t discussing the origin of the N-word. He wasn’t analyzing a quotation, or discussing the use of the term.
He declared, proudly, his belief in a false, racist trope of white superiority, & attempted to give that declaration a veneer of virtue by contrasting it to an actively hateful, more directly antagonistic statement. He imagined a “real” racist to compare himself to. Using the N-word was a rhetorical choice in service of his aim.
It’s not a mention, it’s a usage.
He used it in ’97 to make his claim of white superiority more palatable.
Today, many people are still focusing on that word as intended, rather than directly asking about the content - Does Bostrom still believe there’s a white race with superior intelligence?