• Disputes, verbal disputes, and Definitions• Kinds of definitions and resolution of disputes• Extension and Intension• Extensional Definitions• Intentional Definitions• Rules for Definition by Genus and Difference

Language is a very complicated instrument, the principal tool for human communication. But there are several circumstances where apparent disagreement are in fact not genuine but only the result of misunderstanding or the misuse of words.

There three different kinds of disputes that must be distinguished.Obviously genuine disputes.Merely verbal disputes.Apparently verbal but really genuine.

“In this type of disputes the parties explicitly and unambiguously disagree, either in belief or in attitude”. Example#1If A cheers while B sulks when Barcelona defeats Realmedrid, its their disagreement in attitude but its plainly real, perhaps even intense, even though the identity of the winner is not an issue.

If A says that Pacific entrance to the Panama canal is further east than the Atlantic entrance, while B denies this, attitudes are not at issue but the facts are, and a good map can resolve this dispute.Whether of attitude or belief, disputes of this kind always involves some genuine disagreement and these disputes can be resolved by elaborating facts of some kind.For example 2 A is correct; the Pacific entrance of panama canal is to the east of Atlantic entrance.

“In this second kind of disputes there is no genuine disagreement between the parties at all, and yet they appears to be disagreed with each other”.Here there is ambiguity present but there is no genuine disagreement at all.Some phrases or words central in the dispute may have different sense that may be equally legitimate but may also be confusing.Disputes of this kind are not always easy to spot, but once they are recognized they can be resolved fairly easily. In such context good definitions may prove to be critical for mutual understanding.

“A metaphysical dispute”A live squirrel supposed to be clinging to one side of a tree trunk; while over against the tree’s opposite side a human was imagined to stand. This human tries to get sight of squirrel by moving rapidly round the tree, but no matter how fast he goes the squirrel moves faster in opposite direction so that the glimpse of him s caught.D: Doses the man go round the squirrel or not? He goes round the tree , sure enough and the squirrel is on the tree; but does he go round the squirrel?

Who is right , depends on what you practically mean by going round the squirrel.If it mean passing from the north of him to the east, then to the south, then to the west and then to the north of him again, obviously the man does go, but if on the contrary you mean being first in front of him, then on the right of him, then behind him, then on his left and finally in front again, it is quite obvious that the man fails to go round him.With an alternative definition of the term “go round” the dispute enveloped, by eliminating the element of ambiguity through definition.

In these disputes parties initially misunderstand one another’s use of terms there is likely to be confusion, but resolving the ambiguity will not settle the dispute, because there remains some genuine disagreement in belief and more likely in attitude between them.In these cases ambiguity is present and disputers disagree, in attitude or in belief, either about facts or about the criteria for the application of some terms. Example:Two parties disputes whether Alcholal should be allowed or not? One party insists that it is Haram, while other persist that this is their right to drink what ever they like to drink.

Cont…………..

We have to see that , In any case is ambiguity present? If Answer is NO we have category 1 obviously genuine dispute, if answer is YES We have to ask second question “does clearing ambiguity eliminates disagreement? If YES then we have category 2 merely verbal disputes.if answer to second question is NO then we have category 3 apparently verbal but really genuine dispute.

We must keep in mind, that by definitions we mean definitions of symbols, because only symbols have meanings for definitions to explain.The word “chair” we can define, but “a chair” itself cannot be defined. Whatever the method a definition can be definition of symbols.Any definition consists of definiendum and definiens.“The symbol being defined is called the definiedum”.

And“The symbol or group of symbols being used to explain the meaning of the definiedum is called the definiens”.

So we can say; “Definition in reasoning is the elimination of ambiguity by using symbols”

“The definitions that arises from the deliberate assignment of a meaning (to any existing word /symbol) is properly called stipulative definitions”.Explanation: convenience is one reason, a single word for a set of words or sentence, reduction in the amount of attention and mental energy required.Introduction of exponential in mathematics is its example where AxAxAxAxAxAxA can be written as A7.Similarly numbers that are cumbersome are given names by stipulation, for billion trillions its zetaFor trillion trillions its yotta.In cosmology “Black hole” is a stipulative definition given to “gravitationally completely collapsed stars”

A lexical definition does not gives its definiendum a meaning it lacked but reports a meaning the definiendum already has.So its clear that a lexical definition may be either true or false.The word mountain means a large mass of earth or rock rising to a considerable height above the surrounding country.The word mountain means a plane figure enclosed by three straight lines.In context of how English-speaking people use the word 2nd definition is false.

Stipulative and lexical definitions serve to reduce ambiguity; “Précising definitions serves to reduce vagueness”A term is vague when there exist borderline cases, where one cannot determine whether the term should be applied or not.“Précising definitions are needed where ordinary usage was not sufficiently exact”

Facilities and funds for treatment of mental illness are often short so only patients with “serious mental illness”. Here a precise definition of serious mental illness is needed so the federal center for mental health in 1993 give its more precise definition by including patients with functional impairments unable to( eating, bathing, dressing and maintaining a household).

Horsepower, for example has long been used in reporting the power of motors. i.e 1 horsepower equivalent to pulling force of a horse.

but One horsepower is now defined precisely as “the power needed to raise a weight 550 pounds by one foot in one second”The makers of a précising definition are not free to assign meanings they choose to the definiendum. They must remain true to established usage making the known term more precise.

A theoretical definition of a term is a definition that attempts to formulate a theoretically adequate or scientifically useful description of the objects to which the term applies.Theoretical definitions are needed with the influx of new and growing knowledge.As the theoretical understanding and knowledge of some subject matter increase, one theoretical definition is replaced by another.

Physicists long defined heat as “a fine imponderable fluid” they now define it as“a form of energy possessed by a body by virtue of the irregular motion of its molecules”Earlier almost all effected with HIV were also considered to be effected with life threatening disease of AIDS.But the situation changed with a precise definition of AIDS in most resent studies states that a HIV patient cannot be declared as AIDS unless the CD4 cell ratio fall from 2000 to 200.

Questions like, which country deserves to be called as democracy?Is health care a right or a commodity?When we debate topics like these, it is not merely verbal matters that troubled us actually we are seeking theoretical definitions, we are constructing political, scientific and moral theories through which our understanding may be enhanced.

Persuasive definitions are used to resolve disputes by ‘influencing the attitudes’ or ‘stirring the emotions’ of readers or hearers.In these definitions terms are defined in deliberately calculated ways to affect feelings and to alter conduct.Example: persuasive definitions are common In political arguments and international electronic media.

From the left we hear Socialism defined as democracy extended to the economic sphere, from the write we hear capitalism defined as freedom in economic sphere.

Extension “The collection of objects to which the general term is correctly applied”Example. Good example planet applied in same sense equally to mercury, Venus, earth, mars, Jupiter and so on. What is meant the word planet is in one sense that set of objects.

“The attributes shared by all objects only those objects to which a general term applies”Example. “chair” are “being a single raised seat”And “having a back “ than every chair is single raised seat with a back , and only chairs are single raised seat with a back.

The interesting thing about comprehension and extension is that they are inversely related. If you increase the comprehension of a term, you decrease its extension, and vice versa. Thus, the term rational animal has greater comprehension than the term animal alone, it is more determinate, but at the same time it has a lesser extension, it refers to fewer beings.

In terms of extension, the genus animal contains everything that is in the species man; but in terms of comprehension the term animal means only that which all animals have in common, and is thus only a part of the species man

Cont…….

Denotative definition “ based on terms extension. This type of definition is usually flowed because its most often impossible to enumerate all the objects in a general class” For example, “ equilateral triangle” and “ equiangular triangle” may have same extension.Therefore, even if we enumerate all the objects denoted by general term, that would not distinguish it from anther term that has very same extension

“ A demonstrative definition, a term is defined by pointing an object”.An example of ostensive definition would be the word “ Desk” mean this accompanied by gesture such as pointing a finger in direction of Desk.Since ostensive definition has geographical limitations and one can only indicate what is visible.

Constructing by good definition by genus and differences is by no means a simple task, it requires the thoughtful selection of the most appropriate genus for the term in question, as well as identification of the most helpful specific difference for that term. There are five good rules that have traditionally laid down.

 A definition should state the entire connotation of the term, neither less nor more. The entire connotation of the term is given by stating the genus and the differentia of the term. If more than the logical connotation is stated, it becomes over complete definition. If less than the entire connotation is stated, it becomes an incomplete definition.For example, the definition of human beings as language-speaking rational animals states more than the connotation. If we define human beings as rational, it would be a case of incomplete definition.

 A definition should not be circular. A definition is circular if the definiendum turns up in the definiens. A circular definition uses the term being defined as part of its own definition. Since the purpose of a definition is to explain the meaning of a term or to make its meaning clear, this purpose is defeated if the term is included in the definition.Someone who does not understand the term will not be benefited by such a definition. "A cordless phone is a telephone that has no cord", "Man is human", "Circles are circular in shape" are examples of circular definition

The denotation of the definiendum and the definiens should be identical. This rule states that the definition of a term should capture the correct denotation of the term. A good definition will apply exactly to the same things as the term being defined, no more and no less. When this rule is violated we have a fallacy of either too broad or too narrow definition.For instance, the definition of "bird" as "warm-blooded animal" will be too broad, since it would include not only birds but also horses, cattle and dogs as well. On the other hand, the definition of "bird" as "feathered egg-laying animal" will be too narrow, since it would exclude male birds. So a good connotative definition must be satisfied by all and only those things that are included in the denotation of the term they define.

A definition should not be expressed in ambiguous, unclear, or not literal language. While defining a term one should avoid figurative and unclear language. The aim of definition is to explain the meaning of a term to someone who is unfamiliar with its proper application. So the use of ambiguous, unclear, or figurative language will not help such a person learn how to apply the term. Thus, "happiness is a warm puppy" is a good poetic metaphor, but as a definition it will be useless.

A definition should not be negative where it can be affirmative. A definition should state what a term means rather than what it does not mean. A good definition should use positive designations whenever it is possible to do so. The difficulty with negative definition is that there are too many things a term does not signify. For example, a table is not a chair, not a sofa, not a bed, not a house and so on and so forth. Similarly defining "triangle" as "a figure which is not a circle" is a negative definition. It is not possible to explain the application of a term by identifying some of the things to which it does not apply in a few instances, however, this may be the only way to go.

State the extension and intension of the following words123

45

man

girl

article

Issue of journal

ship

Criticize the following in terms of rules for definition by genus and difference. After identifying the difficulties , sate the rule violated. If definition is either too narrow or too board.1.Knowledge is true opinion 2.Noise is any unwanted signal3.Youth is the springtime of love