The Definition Of Definitions :: essays research papers

<a href="http//www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknins Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web SitesThe sentence all told cats are black is evidently untrue even if only maven cat in the whole universe were to be white. Thus, the property be black cannot form a part of the definition of a cat. The lesson to be learnt is that definitions must be universal. They must apply to all the members of a delineate set (the set of all cats in our example). Let us establish to define a chair. In doing so we are trying to generate the essence of being a chair, its chairness. It is chairness that is specify not this or that specialised chair. We want to be able to identify chairness whenever and wherever we come across it. precisely chairness cannot be captured without somehow tackling and including the uses of a chair what is it made for, what does it do or help to do. In other words, a definition must include an operative part, a assist. In many cases the function of the Definiendum (the shape defined) constitutes its meaning. The function of a vinyl set down is its meaning. It has no meaning away(p) its function. The Definiens (the expression supplying the definition) of a vinyl record both encompasses and consists of its function or use. Yet, can a vinyl record be defined in vacuum, without incorporating the record player in the definiens? After all, a vinyl record is an object containing audio information decoded by a record player. Without the record player bit, the definiens becomes ambiguous. It can fit an audio cassette, or a compact disc. So, the context is essential. A good definition includes a context, which serves to lighten ambiguity. Ostensibly, the more details provided in the definition the less ambiguous it becomes. But this is not true. Actually, the more details provided the more prone is the definition to be ambiguous. A definition must strive to be both stripped and aesthetic. In this sense it is much like a scientific theory. It dialog about the match or the correlation between language and reality. ingenuousness is parsimonious and to reflect it, definitions must be as parsimonious as it is. Let us summarize the characteristics of a good definition and wherefore apply them and try to define a few very ordinary terms. First, a definition must reveal the meaning of the term or concept defined.