Horn discusses both semantic and pragmatic approaches for evaluating the derogatory content of racial epithets, and presents his own evaluative account called combinatorial externalism (CE). CE is a semantic theory in principle, and as he puts it "the view that racial epithets express complex, socially constructed, negative properties determined in virtue of standing in the appropriate external, causal connection with racist institutions" (Horn, 2008 431). This view is considered more semantic than pragmatic, partly because threats that use racial epithets have an intrinsic harm to them.
Camp holds a perspectival view which takes into account how the pejorative force of different slurs is ultimately beyond a mere relative semantic understanding of the words, and has take into account the individual psychological aspects of both slur-speaker and slur-receiver. Camp seems to be under the impression that a perspectival understanding of a slur is contingent on understanding the respective semantic role of the slur.
Intuitively, I like Camp's account because of its pragmatic perspectival considerations, however, Horn does acknowledge this intuition to side with pragmatic standpoints in the beginning of his writing, and proceeds to hold a largely semantic standpoint. In a way, the semantic macro-social considerations held by Horn sort of align with the perceived individual (micro-social?) pragmatic views of Camp. In virtue of Horn's acknowledgement here, I think I agree more with him.
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