ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the functions of moral talk: the things that it is used to do. It explains a central functional assumption of work on evaluation and stance. Then, the chapter focuses on the anthropological work of Mark Hobart to argue that functional assumptions of this kind can be understood as generalisations from particular kinds or instances of moral talk. It explores a number of ways in which people might challenge such generalisations and make more situationally sensitive interpretations of the functions of moral talk by looking at linguistic and situational details of the events in which it is used. The chapter discusses interpretations of an instance of moral talk that is subject to a good deal of very explicit metalinguistic interpretation of function: David Cameron's speech on the morality of capitalism. Finally, it highlights the functional variability with a final example by comparing Cameron's speech to a phone-in caller's personal narrative of institutional abuse.
