DEFINITIONS

A definition is a statement that specifies the proper application of a term or concept.

Rules for evaluating and constructing definitions:

1) Proper Form: Include both a genus and a differentia (lists of examples do not exhibit proper form)

2) No Counterexamples: Neither too broad nor too narrow

3) Based upon Essential Characteristics

4) Avoid metaphor and obscurity

5) Avoid Circularity

6) Avoid Negative Definitions (saying what the defined concept is not)

EXERCISES

Pick out the rule-violations in the following definitions. Try to construct better ones.

1. An army is the branch of a country’s military that uses tanks.

2. A genus is the generic class to which the referent of a given concept belongs.

3. A craftsman is someone who makes what he does look easy.

4. Psychology is the science that studies human behavior.

5. What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

6. A definition is the enclosing a wilderness of ideas within a wall of words.

7. A living thing is any semi-closed physical system that exploits order it already possesses, and the energy flux through it, in such a way as to maintain and or increase its internal order.