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Definition - A definition of 'definition'

Definition - A definition of 'definition': Encyclopedia II - Definition - A definition of 'definition'

Suppose we have decided to define a certain word or a concept associated with that word. Suppose also that we have identified which sense of the word we are interested in, and we have noted clear cases, some unclear cases, and some borderline cases of the application of the word. The question then is: how can this word be defined? What is desired here is a description of the intension of the word: that is, an account of the set of properties that characterizes all and only members of the extension. In that case, it seems the fo ...

Definition: Encyclopedia II - Definition - A definition of 'definition'

Definition - A definition of 'definition'

Suppose we have decided to define a certain word or a concept associated with that word. Suppose also that we have identified which sense of the word we are interested in, and we have noted clear cases, some unclear cases, and some borderline cases of the application of the word. The question then is: how can this word be defined? What is desired here is a description of the intension of the word: that is, an account of the set of properties that characterizes all and only members of the extension. In that case, it seems the following is a serviceable account of the meaning of '(intensional) definition':

The definition of a concept, or of (a given sense of) a word or phrase, is a description of its intension—that is, the set of properties that characterizes all and only members of the extension of the word; the extension is all the things that the concept, word, or phrase applies to.

Some philosophers have criticisms of this sort of definition of the word definition; or perhaps it would be better to say that some philosophers think that it is, for various reasons, impossible to give exhaustively exact definitions of most concepts, words, and phrases. Two prominent critics are Wittgenstein and Quine. Still most philosophers acknowledge that in philosophy something similar to giving definitions of important philosophical concepts is necessary.

Other related archives

Analytic proposition, David Hume, Fallacies of definition, Latin, Operational definition, Quine, Ramsey-Lewis method, Synthetic proposition, Theory of Descriptions, Wittgenstein, ambiguous, arguments, beer, circular definition, concept, counterfactually, definite descriptions, definition by genus and difference, description, extension, extensional definition, inductive definition, intension, intensional definition, lexical definition, meaning, natural number, necessary, ostensive definition, persuasive definition, precising definition, properties, recursive definition, sake, sets, stipulative definition, sufficient, tautology, theoretical definition, vague

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "A definition of 'definition'", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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