1) When using "however" to combine two independent clauses into a single, compound sentence, you must use a semicolon before and a comma after however.
2) The colon is the only punctuation mark that can be used to introduce a list.
3) A dash is used in this case to connect two clauses in an abrupt way, characterizing the suddenness of the moment of decision.
4) Two independent clauses are typically joined into a sentence here with a semicolon.
The semantics of racial slurs has recently become a locus of debate among philosophers. While everyone agrees that slurs are offensive, there is disagreement about the linguistic mechanism responsible for this offensivenes.
