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definition

summary

    This subchapter looks at definitions.

    The first rule of philosophy is to define your terms. The reason is to create clarity and make sure that everyone is discussing the same thing.

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stub section

    This subchapter is a stub section. It will be filled in with instructional material later. For now it serves the purpose of a place holder for the order of instruction.

    Professors are invited to give feedback on both the proposed contents and the propsed order of this text book. Send commentary to Milo, PO Box 1361, Tustin, California, 92781, USA.

definition

summary

    This subchapter looks at definitions.

    The first rule of philosophy is to define your terms. The reason is to create clarity and make sure that everyone is discussing the same thing.

Churchill

    There is a famous example from World War II. In American use, the term “table” means to put a matter aside. In the rest of the English-speaking world, the term “table” means to begin discussion on a matter.

    Winston Churchill describes how this became a source of confusion during World War II in his book The Second World War, Volume 3: The Grand Alliance.

    The enjoyment of a common language was of course a supreme advantage in all British and American discussions. … The British Staff prepared a paper which they wished to raise as a matter of urgency, and informed their American colleagues that they wished to “table it.” To the American Staff “tabling” a paper meant putting it away in a drawer and forgetting it. A long and even acrimonious argument ensued before both parties realized that they were agreed on the merits and wanted the same thing.

dictionaries

    Why not just use a dictionary?

    Dictionaries serve a different purpose. The definitions in dictionaries are about words. The definitions in philosophy are about concepts.

    Even though we have a different purpose for definition in critical reasoning, a dictionary definition can be a good starting point for coming up with a useful philosophical definition.

    A Webster’s style dictionary (there are many different brands, not one single version) attempts to record how the common person uses the language. The first was Noah Webster’s 1928 edition of the American Dictionary of the English Language.

    An authorative dictionary attempts to record expert use of the language (such as the works of great writers). Originally authorative dictionaries recorded how the king or queen wanted the language to be used. The famous example is the Oxford English Dictionary, which is printed on behalf of British royalty.

    A lexicon is a specialized dictionary that records the words and phrases for a particular use, such as a law or science dictionary. The famous example is Black’s Law Dictionary.

boundaries

    One of the most important aspects of a good definition is setting boundaries. A definition divides the universe into that which fits the definition and that which doesn’t fit the definition.

    It is generallly easy to deal with cases that are clearly within a definition and cases that are clearly outside of a definition. The problem is dealing well with the cases that are near the borders. In computer science, these are sometimes called the “corner cases”.

precision and accuracy

    Precision is how exacting something is. For example, 3.14159 is more precise than three.

    Accuracy is how correct something is.

    The classic example is:

    “2 + 2 = 3.9999” is very precise, but inaccurate.

    “Two plus two is less than ten” is accurate, but imprecise.

    We want any definition to be accurate.

    There are always degrees of precision. In philosophy we want to be as precise as necessary. We want to be precise enough to avoid confusion, but have no need to go to extremes for precision’s own sake.

clarity

    The basic function of a definition in critical reasoning is to be clear. Our goal is to avoid confusion.

    Working towards great clarity in definitions actually helps us better understand the topics we are thinking about.

    In the last half century or so there has been a lot of work on how language and words powerfully control our thoughts and even what we are able to think of.

summary

    A good definition should summarize the concept.

genus and differentia

    A classic test of a good definition for critical reasoning is that it includes a genus and a differentia.

    The genus let’s us know the class of concepts.

    The differentia (difference) let’s us know how this particular concept difefrs from other similar concepts.

    In normal speech it is common to leave the genus implied. For good critical reasoning, it is important to actually state the genus.

    In some cases the genus is essential for distinguishing between multiple meanings of a word.

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