What does it mean to be accepted? This is a tricky word that gives me trouble. I know that if I were to submit an application, my application needs to be accepted. That doesn't mean that it will be approved. So in this sense, approval is the goal, and acceptance is a step toward that goal. But I don't think the words are always used that way.
If I feel acceptance from a group of people, what does that mean? When I want this group of people to approve of me, what does that mean? I think the words have a different relationship than in the first example. And there's some ambiguity. To accept an individual means different things to different people. And to approve of an individual has much more diverse meanings. Approve of what? The individual's existence? Their choices? Their physical characteristics? Their emotional state? And does approve mean to agree with? Tolerate? Support?
Any time these words are used in a debate, it is very easy to fall into the trap of using the logical fallacy of equivocation. By changing the meaning of the words, we can draw erroneous conclusions. So I sometimes think these words should be left out of debates, unless their usage is carefully defined.
On the other hand, we all pretty much know what it means to feel accepted. It's somewhat different from feeling approval. And both are important. So we can't ignore the words. We just have to be careful how we use them.
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