DEFINITION

A definition is a statement that gives the meaning of a term.

-          Derived from the Latin word definire which means to enclose within limits or to make
boundaries or limits
-          The boundary of a field is defined by indicating the limits within which a field is confined
and bounded which it is marked off from other fields; similarly, a term is defined by
indicating the limits within which it is used and by which it is marked off from other terms.
-          Definition is not a proposition or sentence but a term, generally a complex term.

Parts of a Definition
1.       Definiendum – the word that is defined
2.       Definiens – the phrase that explains the definiendum

Kinds of Definition
I.                    Kinds of Definition Based on Usage

A.      Lexical Definition
A lexical definition (Latin, lexis which means “word”) is the definition of a word
according to the meaning customarily assigned to it by the community of users. It
simply reports the meaning which a word already has among the users of the language in
which the word occurs. A dictionary or lexicon comprises this kind of definition.
E.g.:   Lexicon - dictionary: a reference book that alphabetically lists words and their meanings,
e.g. of an ancient language
                            River -     large natural channel of water: a natural stream of water that flows through
land and empties into a body of water such as an ocean or lake

B.      Stipulative Definition
A stipulative definition is a kind of definition in which a new word or term is coined
in order to signify a meaning or object for which no word in the language has previously been
given.
For example, the word selfie has been invented in order to signify a person who loves
to take picture of himself or herself.
Suppose that another living creature was found in another planet. Surely, there is no
word in our language to signify such creature. We, then, have to stipulate that the creature
shall be known by this or that particular name. Doing this means making a stipulative
definition.

C.      Precising Definition
The purpose of a precising definition is to reduce the vagueness of a word. There are
terms in our language which must have precise definitions because some future actions are
based on our knowledge of them.
For example, the arguments for or against contraception requires a clear, precise, and
unambiguous definition of life of human organism because such definition implies the moral
bearing of contraception.
 Other examples which need precising definitions are legal terms like “theft”,
“murder”, “private property”, “rights”, and “sovereignty” since the definition sets the
condition of understanding laws and legislative praxis.

D.      Theoretical Definition
Theoretical definitions attempt to define an object according to its true nature, and not
necessarily according to the way the word is used by a community of users.
Take, for instance, the definition of table salt as sodium chloride. Unless the persons
involved have some acquaintance with elementary chemistry, this would be a bad definition,
for it would define the familiar in terms of the unfamiliar. For those acquainted with the
principles of chemistry, however, this definition is the best one, for it reveals the real nature
of salt. Other familiar theoretical definitions are “force equals mass times acceleration,” or
“light is electromagnetic energy (of a certain range of wavelengths).” For scientific purposes,
theoretical definitions are necessary and cannot be replaced by other types of definitions. A
theoretical definition answers the question, “What really is x?” where “x” is the object whose
name is to be defined.
Philosophers, too, are interested in theoretical definitions. The desire to know what is
really the nature of “human person”, “knowledge”, “existence”, “being”, “beauty” etc., tells
us why philosophy today have so many branches like Philosophy of the Human Person,
Epistemology, Existentialism, Metaphysics, and Aesthetics which endeavour to get correct
theoretical definitions of the objects just mentioned.

E.       Persuasive Definition
Some definitions are intended either mainly or at least partly to influence attitudes.
Persuasive definition, under which these definitions are categorized, incites either favourable
or unfavourable responses to the object so defined. Here are examples of persuasive
definitions:
Democracy is a government of the weak, inferior race.
Democracy is a government of the people by the people for the people.
A dictator is one who achieves greatness by violence in the political sphere.
Love is only an illusion on people who do not know the difference between reality and
fantasy.
Contraception is the deliberate prevention of unwanted pregnancy so that families may be
able to give the best care to their children.
Contraception is the wilful interference of God’s will so that children who would have seen
the light of day are deliberately prevented from doing so.
Persuasive is not really concerned with revealing the true nature of the concept
defined but of influencing attitude by using phrases that appeal to one’s emotion.

II.                  Kinds of Definition Based on Extension and Intension

A.      Extensional Definition
Also known as Denotative Definition, it is a way of defining a word based on giving
examples of the things or objects referred to by a term. For example, defining a computer for
someone who never saw a computer before would be utterly lacking. It is important,
therefore, to show him or her a computer. Showing a computer to describe a term “computer”
is an extensional definition.
                 2 Types:
1.       Definition by Example – a definition in which we list or give examples of the objects
denoted by the term
2.       Ostensive – an extensional definition which merely points out an object referred by a term.
3.       Quasi-ostensive – an extensional definition which does not only point the object referred
to by the term but also gives a description about the object being pointed out.
Extensional or denotative definitions are important especially when a term requires a
demonstration in order to be understood. For example, one cannot define “color red” without
pointing to something that is of color red.
There are, however, serious limitations of extensional or denotative definitions. One
limitation is that a person who uses this kind of definition is that he may not be able to
articulate what the thing really is because he knows only what the thing is like. Articulation
of meaning is important because it clarifies ambiguity in understanding, and more
importantly, it indicates the depth of understanding a person has of a particular term. Another
reason is that extensional definitions cannot define terms that have no extension. For
instance, how can we extensionally define terms like “length”, “infinite”, “nothingness”,
“value”, etc?

B.      Intensional Definition
Also known as connotative definition or definition by comprehension, it is a way of defining
a word by giving its meaning. Giving the meaning of the term may be done through giving its
etymological origin or its synonym, or stating the essential attributes of the concept signified
by the term.
4 Types:
1.       Etymological Definition - Defines a word by giving the meaning of the word or words
from which it is derived. E.g. Philosophy is derived from philos, a Greek word which means
“loving,” and Sophia, which means “wisdom”.
2.       Definition by Synonym - Defines a word by giving a synonym (either of the same
language as the word to be defined or of a different language) that is better known than the
word to be defined. E.g. anthropos means man, to confect means to put together
3.       Operational Definition – A type of intensional definition widely used in science. It
defines a word or an occurrence by stating the necessary conditions that are required in order
for something to be called such a term. It has a form “Something is X, if and only if…”
For instance, X is magnetic, if and only if, whenever any piece of iron, nickel or cobalt is
placed closed to it, it attracts the latter toward itself.
Another example: X is harder than Y, if and only if, when a point of X is drawn on the
surface of Y, X scratches Y.
4.       Definition by Genus and Difference or Real Definition – is regarded as the best type of
definition because it tells us what a thing really is. It is defining a term by giving a larger
class to which the concept signified by the term belongs (called as genus) and stating the
properties that a concept has that differentiates it from other concepts under the same genus
(called as difference).
For example:
Man is a rational animal. (“Animal” is the genus because it is the larger class to which the
concept “man” belongs. “Rational” is the difference because it is what differs man from all
other animals.)
Girl is a young woman. (Genus = woman; Difference = young)
 Triangle is a plane figure bounded by three straight lines.  (Genus = plane figure; Difference
= bounded by three straight lines)

Limits of Real Definition:

a.        Only common terms can be defined by real definition. Proper names such as names of
places, things, or people are identified rather than defined.
b.      Transcendental concepts (“being”, “thing”, “something”, and so on) cannot be defined by a
strict definition but can only be described.
c.       Supreme genera (“being”, “substance”) cannot be defined by real definition because they
do not have genus.
d.      Immediate data of experience like color, taste, smell, etc. cannot be defined by real
definition.

Rules of Definition:
1.       A definition should state the essential attributes of the object being defined.
Essential attributes are attributes which make the object what it is. So, a good
definition of “X” must be able to answer the question “What really is X?”
The definition of man as a rational animal satisfies this criterion, for it tells us what
man really is. However, defining man as an animal who is capable of speech violates this rule
because being able to speak is not what makes man as “man”.

2.       A definition should be neither too broad nor too narrow.

When a definition is too broad, it might include objects which are not proper
extensions of the term, and when it is too narrow, it might exclude objects which are really
extensions of the term.
For instance, if we define man as a bipedal mammal then we have to include, based
on that definition, other mammals which are also bipedal like apes. Or, if we define man as a
rational animal with two legs, two hands, and one head, then our definition is too narrow
since it would exclude people who do not have complete legs or hands.

3.       A definition must not be circular.

This means that the definiendum must not appear in the definiens. A definition
violates this rule when the term that is supposed to be defined is used to define itself.
Examples of definition that violates this rule:
                “Sympathy” is the feeling of a person who feels sympathetic.
                “Fallacy” is an argument that is fallacious.
A “circle” is a plane figure that has a circular shape.

4.       A definition should not be expressed in figurative, obscure and ambiguous language.
Good definitions do not use metaphor or figurative languages. The purpose of
definition is to give us clear idea of what a thing is, and using figurative language will not
allow us to achieve that. No matter how appealing such a definition, still it gives no clear idea
of what it tries to define. It also defeats the purpose of definition if we define words using
other words that are more unfamiliar and obscure.
Examples of definition that violates this rule:
                An elephant is an animal with a long prosboscis.
                 A lover is someone who gives you sunshine.
                God is the alpha and the omega.

5.       A definition should as much as possible be affirmative, rather than negative.

The purpose of definition is primarily to tell us what a thing is, not what a thing is not.
Examples of definition that violate this rule:
                A plant is a living thing that is not an animal.
                A girl is a person who is not a boy.
                Life means the opposite of death.
But there are terms which are essentially negative, and a defining such terms requires
negative definition. Hence, such negative definitions do not violate this rule. Here are the
examples:
                A bald person is someone who has no hair in the head.
                A mute person is someone who cannot speak.

                Nothingness is the absence of existence.

Categorical Propositions
Classical logic makes great use of the principle of putting things into categories, or classes.
Categorical propositions tell you things about these categories.
Definitions
Categorical term
A categorical term is something that will be categorized, such as 'dog' and 'cat'. It is usually
a collective statement such as 'all dogs' or 'some dogs'.
Categorical proposition
A categorical proposition is simply a statements about the relationship between categories.
It states whether one category or categorical term is fully contained with another, is
partially contained within another or is completely separate.

A dog is an animal

Some dogs are friendly

No dog is a cat

Propositions may have quality: either affirmative or negative.

They may also have quantity: such as 'a', 'some', 'most' or 'all'. The 'all' quantity is also
described as being universal and other quantities particular.
Predicate and subject
The first term in the proposition is the subject. The second term is the predicate.

Some dogs (subject) are friendly (predicate)

Distribution
A categorical term is said to be distributed if the categorical proposition that contains it
says something about all members of that categorical term. It is undistributed if the
categorical proposition that contains it says does not something about all members of that
categorical term.

Four types
There are four types of categorical proposition, each of which is given a vowel letter A, E, I
and O. A way of remembering these is: Affirmative universal, nEgative universal,
affIrmative particular and nOgative particular. To be more correct, A and I letters came
from the Latin affirmo, and E and O from the Latin nego.
 
Distribution Distribution
Form Type Quality Quantity
of X of Y

All X is Y A Affirmative Universal Distributed Undistributed

No X is Y E Negative Universal Distributed Distributed

 Some X is Y I Affirmative Particular Undistributed Undistributed

Some X is
O Negative Particular Undistributed Distributed
not Y

 
In this classification, 'some X is some Y' is I and 'some X is not some Y' is O, although it
can be argued that these may be treated as an additional two variants.

Opposites
There are several types of opposition used in categorical propositions. These can be
traditionally placed in the Square of Opposition.
 

A <-- Contraries --> E

 
^ ^

| |
Contradictories
Subalterns (diagaonals) Subalterns
| |
V V

I <-- Subcontraries --> O

 
 Contraries cannot both be true, but both can be false.
 Subcontraries cannot both be false, but both can be true.
 Subaltern pairs can both be true or both be false.
 Contradictories cannot both be true and cannot both be false.

Opposites are also described in the converse, obverse and contrapositive.

Converse
The converse of a categorical proposition is categorical proposition where the predicate and
subject of the original proposition are exchanged. Note that the quantity does not move
with the subject or predicate.

No dogs are cats  -->  No cats are dogs

Some dogs are friendly creatures  -->  Some friendly creatures are dogs
 All dogs are animals  -->  All animals are dogs

The converse of any true E or I proposition is also true (making it a useful test). A and O
converses are seldom true.
Obverse
The obverse of a categorical proposition has predicate term replaced with its complement
and quality of the proposition reverse.

All dogs are animals  -->  No dogs are not animals

No dogs are not dangerous  -->  All dogs are dangerous

The obverse of all types of true categorical proposition are also true.

Contrapositive
The contrapositive of a categorical proposition is formed by taking the complement of both
subject and predicate and then reversing them.

All dogs are animals  -->  All non-animals are not dogs

Some dogs are friendly  -->  Some non-friendly creatures are not dogs

The contrapositive of any true A or O proposition is also true (making it a useful test). Contrapositives
of E and I propositions are seldom true.