PHILO 101

August 31, 2022.

CLASSIFICATION OF TERMS 4. CORRELATIVE

- Two opposed terms that bear mutual relation to one another such
1. ACCORDING TO COMPREHENSION that one cannot be understood without the other.
- They imply each other because one depends on the other.
A. CONCRETE - Ex. Cause-effect, whole-part, parent-child, husband-wife.
- Expresses something that has attributes that can be perceived
through the senses. 5. ACCORDING TO MEANING
- Ex. Computer.
B. ABSTRACT A. UNIVOCAL
- Expresses something separated from any single object. It is a pure - A term that carries only one meaning in its several uses.
idea expressed in words. - Ex. Human.
- Ex. Happiness. B. EQUIVOCAL
- A term that carries different meanings in different uses.
2. ACCORDING TO EXTENSION a. Only in pronunciation
- Ex. Marry and merry, witch and which.
A. SINGULAR b. In pronunciation and spelling
- Represents a single person, event or object only. - Ex. March, may, yoke.
- Ex. My father, Mr. Lee. C. ANALOGOUS
B. UNIVERSAL - A term that carries meaning in some ways the same and in other
- Represents an individual member of the class and the class as a ways different.
whole. - Ex. Dead end, Good Friday.
- Ex. Book, student, girl.
C. PARTICULAR 6. ACCORDING TO QUALITY
- Represents only a part of the universal whether it is definite or
indefinite. A. POSITIVE IN FORM, POSITIVE IN MEANING
- Ex. Many pages, few customers. - Ex. Joy, victory.
D. COLLECTIVE B. POSITIVE IN FORM, NEGATIVE IN MEANING
- Represents a number of things constituting a unit-group or whole. - Ex. crazy, idiot, death
- Ex. Family, choir, team. C. NEGATIVE IN FORM, NEGATIVE IN MEANING
- Ex. immature, unprepared
3. ACCORDING TO ORIGIN D. NEGATIVE IN FORM, POSITIVE IN MEANING
- Ex. selfless, painless, unrivalled
A. IMMEDIATE
- Intuitive 7. ACCORDING TO OBJECT
- Formed from the direct perception of things.
- Ex. Chair, whistle, spicy. A. REAL
B. MEDIATE - Expresses something that has existential actuality, whether
- Abstractive positive or negative.
- Formed through the mediation of other ideas. - Ex. Salvation, pain, telephone.
- Ex. God, soul, Unicorn, Rationalism. B. LOGICAL
- Used as a conceptual device to facilitate learning.
4. ACCORDING TO RELATION - Ex. Subject, species, genus.
C. IMAGINARY
A. COMPATIBLE - Has no correspondence with reality and is merely a fabrication of
- Terms that can co-exist in a subject. the mind.
- Ex. Hot and spicy - Ex. Iron man, talking tree, flying carpet.
B. INCOMPATIBLE
- Terms that cannot coexist in a subject. DEFINITION
- They exclude each other. - To define something is to explain its meaning.
- Definiendum - term to be defined.
4 KINDS - Definiens - defining term.
1. CONTRADICTORY
- Terms that are mutually exclusive such that the affirmation of one TYPES OF DEFINITION
is the denial of the other.
- Between these two terms, there is no middle ground. 1. NOMAL DEFINITION
- Ex. Same-different, dead-alive. A. OSTENSIVE
2. CONTRARY - Demonstrative.
- Terms that express extremes belonging to the same class. - Showing or pointing at the object.
- There is a middle ground. - Often used when the term is difficult to define verbally.
- Ex. Rich-poor (middle class), intelligent-dumb (average minded), - Non-linguistic method.
cheap-expensive (reasonably-priced). - Ex. What is a peso? It is ₱. (or show a 1 peso coin).
3. PRIVATIVE B. SYNONYMOUS
- Two opposed ideas, one of which expresses perfection and the - Gives the same connotation of the term.
other its lack that ought to be possessed. - Ex. Prima facie – at first sight. ;
- Ex. Sight-blindness, sane-insane. Ampon – adopted
C. ETYMOLOGICAL
- Gives the origin of the word.
chan, s. – 4bsn1
PHILO 101
August 31, 2022.

- Ex. Philosophy – derived from Greek words Philia & Sophia, love
of wisdom

2. REAL DEFINITION
- Tells us what the thing is, not just what the word means.
- All real definitions are nominal definitions but not vice versa.

A. ESSENTIAL
- Definition that is constructed by genus and specific difference.
- Ex. Man is a rational animal.
B. NON-ESSENTIAL
- Gives the more notable characteristics of a thing.
a. DISTINCTIVE
- Gives natural characteristics that follows necessarily from the
essence of a thing.
- Ex. Man is capable of distinguishing what is morally right and
wrong.
b. GENETIC
- Furnishes mode of origin or how something is produced.
- Ex. Circle is formed by revolving a line in plane reaching one
of its ends.
C. CAUSAL
- Describes a thing by its efficient and final cause.
a. EFFICIENT CAUSE
- The producer.
- Ex. Facebook was invented by Mark Zuckerberg.
b. FINAL CAUSE
- Purpose or end of a thing.
- Ex. Sedative is a drug for inducing sleep.
D. ACCIDENTAL
- Explains a thing by giving contingent characteristics.
- Ex. The typhoon is tremendously strong.

RULES FOR GOOD DEFINITION

Definitions can go wrong at times. To avoid committing bad definitions
here are the rules that govern the construction of good definitions.

1. A definition should avoid vagueness and ambiguity.

- Highly theoretical and figurative definition must be avoided.
- Must be presented in a language an average person is likely to
understand.

a. OBSCURE DEFINITIONS
- Ex. Net is the reticulated fabric decussated at regular intervals with
interstices and intersections.
b. FIGURATIVE DEFINITIONS
- Ex. Love is a sweet misery.

2. Definition should not be circular.

- Must not use the defined as part of the definition.

a. CIRCULAR DEFINITIONS
- Ex. A wall clock is a clock on the wall.

3. Definition should not be needlessly negative.

- Definition should state what a thing is, not what a thing is not.

a. NEGATIVE DEFINITIONS
- Ex. A boy is not a girl.

4. Definition must be precise.

- The definiendum and the definiens must be interchangeable.

a. BROAD DEFINITIONS
- Ex. A bachelor is an unmarried male.
b. NARROW DEFINITIONS
- Ex. A woman is a married mother.
chan, s. – 4bsn1