I assume you argue the imperious curse doesn’t force somebody to do something because they’re not really doing it (likewise with grabbing their hand and hitting them with it, provided you’re sufficiently stronger to do so). Likewise, any kind of mechanism of forcing somebody to decide to do something still leaves them open to refuse. This is the denotative meaning.
The connotative meaning is pretty subjective, but could be that we’re subverting somebody else’s will. If you kidnap somebody’s child and ransom them, sure they still, strictly speaking, have a choice in the matter, but in any realistic sense they don’t.
Could you explain this in specifics? What denotation and what connotation?
I assume you argue the imperious curse doesn’t force somebody to do something because they’re not really doing it (likewise with grabbing their hand and hitting them with it, provided you’re sufficiently stronger to do so). Likewise, any kind of mechanism of forcing somebody to decide to do something still leaves them open to refuse. This is the denotative meaning.
The connotative meaning is pretty subjective, but could be that we’re subverting somebody else’s will. If you kidnap somebody’s child and ransom them, sure they still, strictly speaking, have a choice in the matter, but in any realistic sense they don’t.
Hm, that sounds like a good answer to me.