1-The Purposes and Types of

Definitions
Term- Concept expressed by words with a
precise meaning
Many words mean one term
Synonyms- (trash, rubbage, garbage)
Languages- (logic and logica)
One word means many terms
Mad (Angry, insane)
Definition- A statement that gives the meaning of
a term
 1-The Purposes and Types of
Definitions
To define terms is a valuable skill
Definitions show relationships
“man is a rational animal”
Related to rational beings
Related to animals
“bald is to have no hair”
Related to its opposite “hairy”
Definitions remove ambiguity
Ambiguous- More than one possible meaning
“love” ?
Lexical defintion- provides a single established meaning of
a term (dictionary)
 1-The Purposes and Types of
Definitions
Defintions reduce vagueness
Vague- its extent is unclear
“gray areas”
Descriptive terms (old, dark, tall...)
“Make a small donation”
Precising defintion- makes it more clear (not in
dictionary)
 1-The Purposes and Types of
Definitions
Defintions increase vocabulary
An increase in vocabulary menas an increase in
knowledge
Stipulative definition- when a new word is invented or
an old word is applied in a new way
Laptop (1985), macho (spanish 1928), “google”
Definitions can explain concepts theoretically
Theoretical definition- Defintion to help understand a
word (scientific, philisophical)
H2O
 1-The Purposes and Types of
Definitions
Defintions can influence attitudes
Persuasive definitions- aim to persuade listeners
Democracy?
Mob rule
Government by the people
Mathmatics?
The use of numbers to torture students
The use of numbers to make future leaders
a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the
logic of quantity and shape and arrangement
 1-Logic Riddle
There are three switches downstairs. Each
corresponds to one of the three light bulbs in
the attic. You can turn the switches on and off
and leave them in any position.
How would you identify which switch corresponds
to which light bulb, if you are only allowed one
trip upstairs?
 1-Logic Riddle
Keep the first bulb switched on for a few minutes.
It gets warm, right? So all you have to do then
is ... switch it off, switch another one on, walk
into the room with bulbs, touch them and tell
which one was switched on as the first one (the
warm one) and the others can be easily
identified ...
 1-Logic puzzle

http://www.logic-puzzles.org/game.php?u=2bb4b57dd
Quiz 1