Are certain words inherently offensive?

[Napoleon]

You know what words I'm talking about. F*ggot, n*gger, b*tch, c*nt, etc.

Are these words offensive regardless of context, or only when used inappropriately. Is n*gga different from n*gger? Does it matter if its a white dude or a black dude using the word?

[Sic Semper Fascistis]

A word has no value apart from the meaning you give to them. If everybody used "niggah" the way rappers did, there would be no problem with it. Of course, the coexistence of two different meanings makes the issue trickier... but meaning is still what matters ultimately.

[Kitteh]

Context is what matters of course, but when I say "context" I mean mostly social and historical context, not the facts of the specific event when some person said some word.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You can't remove anything from its context.

[Benj]

To an extent, context is important. However, certain words, including "n*****" and "f*****" are offensive in all conceivable contexts except when used to represent the word itself (as in this sentence) or in other context-neutral, academic contexts. Race, sexual orientation, etc. of the person making the statement may change the intended meaning but does not make the words less offensive. "B****" and "c***" are different categorically, though I suppose they have some misogyny overtones; I don't think they are so strongly associated with misogyny, however.

Big-time disbeliever in "reclaiming" here. Words sometimes lose previous offensive meaning, but they usually do so through disuse or misuse (i.e., consistently using an offensive word without knowing the word to be offensive and with only nonoffensive intent) rather than "affirming" use.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Context is what matters of course, but when I say "context" I mean mostly social and historical context, not the facts of the specific event when some person said some word.

I agree, and it depends on who uses it.  A black person, for example, can get away with saying "nig**r", and a woman can get away with saying "b*tch."  A Polish-American could probably even get away with saying "Pol**k," a German-American with saying "kraut," or an Italian-American with saying "wop."  I personally try to avoid using those words, however.
As for words like Negro or colored, while some would consider them offensive, I think they're more outdated.  After all, those were the polite, PC terms to use at one time.  Now "nigro" is a word I would consider offensive, since it is essentially a combination of Negro and the N-word.  But you also have to consider the context of time as well.  For example, when my grandma was growing up, Brazil nuts were sometimes called "nig**r toes."  I remember hearing one of her ex-colleagues use the term "colored" to describe Montel Williams and being shocked, but as I said earlier, that was once considered the PC term.  I also remember an older lady from my church saying "Pol**k," and I was shocked by that as well.  Also, books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have been banned in some localities for using the N-word, when in reality, Huck Finn is an anti-racist novel that uses that word because of the context of the time.  Finally (I know I'm getting long-winded), recall when Howard Cosell got fired from ESPN in the 80s for calling a black football player a "little monkey."  In all likelihood, he didn't mean it to be offensive, but it was taken that way.  I probably would've fired him too, but if anything, he meant it as an admiration of his athletic skills.  (And of course, people can get away with calling a conservative woman a "b*tch" or "c*nt," but they can't if they say it about a liberal woman. )  In short, it all depends on context.

[memphis]

There are a number of words for body parts and body functions that are, by definition, unpleasant things.

[John Dibble]

Of course context matters. Words only mean what we assign them to mean - if someone doesn't know what a word means, how can they be offended by it?

There are a number of words for body parts and body functions that are, by definition, unpleasant things.

Which doesn't make them offensive. Would you be offended if you were talking to your doctor and he/she mentioned such things?

[Blue3]

A lot refer to the historical development of languages.

For example, why is n***** not as bad as "black"? Historical context.

F***** officially means a bundle of firewood. How did it become associated with being gay? People call gays "fag***s" because they used to be (and in the eyes of many people, should still be) burned at the stake like firewood.

I'm not sure, but I think certain synonyms for certain anatomical parts and functions that are considered swear words today were once just the translations for those words from an immigrating ethnicity to the British isles that the natives looked down upon.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

F***** officially means a bundle of firewood. How did it become associated with being gay? People call gays "fag***s" because they used to be (and in the eyes of many people, should still be) burned at the stake like firewood.

Not quite.  While f****t as a term for a queer is related to that for the bundle of sticks, the reasoning isn't that, nor is it direct.

I think the most likely reason is that f****t became a slang term for cigarettes because a bunch of cigarettes resembles a bunch of sticks.  Then because women smoked cigarettes while "real men" smoked cigars, the term was transferred to gays.  The word had been used before in several slangish meanings for second rate things before it got stuck to gays in the early 20th century.

[opebo]

There are a number of words for body parts and body functions that are, by definition, unpleasant things.

Poo means something invariably disgusting, but the sound of the word and that talking poo on South Park have made it have darling associations for me.