CHAPTER 1 (LESSON 3)

DEFINITION
PREPARED BY:
FRANCIS AJ BELOTINDOS
& JEA JANNEL BULAD-ON
DEFINITION:
It is important in logic for two reason:
1.It makes the term clear and a sentence true
2.It helps identify sentences with predicate
terms

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LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
• At the end of this lesson, the
students are expected to:
1. point out the importance of
definition in the study of Logic.
2. discuss the nature of definition.
3. construct examples for each of the
five classifications of definition
according to purpose.
4. differentiate connotative from
denotative method of definition.
5. identify sub-methods under
connotative and denotative
definition.
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THE NATURE OF
DEFINITION
According to Acuña 2001, unfamiliar term is
explained with familiar term.
DEFINITION IS NOT A SENTENCE,
BUT IT'S A SET OF WORDS THAT
EXPLAIN A TERM.
DEFINIENDUM - IS THE SUBJECT
TERM WHICH SUPPOSE TO BE
DEFINED
DEFINIENS - IS THE PREDICATE
TERM THAT DOES THE DEFINING
Example:
1. A tiger is a jungle animal, The Philippines
is an Asian country.
The terms "tiger" and "Philippines" are the
subjects to be defined known as
"definiendum," while the predicates "jungle
animal and "Asian country" are the
definitions or the "definiens.“
2.Even number is any number that is
divisible by two without a remainder.
3. Widow is a woman whose husband is
dead.
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 CLASSIFICATION OF
DEFINITION ACCORDING
TO PURPOSE
A definition of a word may, in relation to its
purpose, be classified into five, namely: lexical,
stipulative, precising, persuasive, and theoretical
(Hurley: 1988).
• LEXICAL
• STIPULATIVE
• PRECISING
• PERSUASIVE
• THEORETICAL

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 Lexical or Reportive Definition
• Used to reports the meaning that a word already has in a language .
• It is any definition which explain how a word is actually used.
To inform someone else of the accepted meaning of the term and it involves three
persons:
1. The definer who is explaining the meaning of the word;
2. The hearer to whom the meaning is defined;
3. The group of people or the language community using the word and giving its
meaning.
Example :
1. The statement that "The word "car" means a wheeled vehicle used for conveyance of passengers,"
is true. It is true because it is a report of how a group of people uses the word "car." If you restate or
redefine this word, your definition may become true and the lexical definition may be false.
2. Sushi is a kind of food made with vinegar rice with some meat or vegetable topping
3. WTO stands for “The World Trade Organization”.
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 Stipulative Definition
• Assigns a new meaning to a word.
• Often created in response to some new phenomenon or development
Adoption of a shared use of a novel term, there are no existing standards against
which it can be compared. It involves only two persons:
1. The definer who assigns a meaning to the word
2. The hearer to whom the meaning is defined.

Example:
1. A real man uses X brand of shaving gel.
- This form changes the definition of “man” for the sake of the advertisement.
2. We are going to cook KFC for dinner tonight.
- This form changes the definition of “KFC” which means “Korean-style Fried
Chicken” .
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 Precising Definition
• It is used for the purpose of eliminating ambiguity or vagueness.
• It might be regarded as a combination of reportive and stipulative definition.

Example:
1. The term "poor" might sound to be broad and vague for some. Thus to be precise,
you may define it as "those with incomes under P 5,000 per year."
2. The term "students" which has a wide application. To make it more specific and
precise, we may have its definition as "the accountancy students of MSU-IIT.“
3. Instead of “old person”, we may define it as “any person pf age 65 or above”

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 Persuasive Definition
• An attempt to attach an emotive meaning to the use of a term.
• It is actually a conclusion instead of real definition.
• Since this can only serve to confuse the literal meaning of the term, persuasive
definitions are not practical to be used.

Examples :
1. "Logic" means "the study of the means by which to win an argument."
2. "Government" means "the subjugation of the masses by bureaucrats."
3. "A real woman" is "the one who knows how to please a man.“
4. “Abortion” means “the murder of an innocent person during pregnancy .”

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 Theoretical Definition
• It is constructed in the light of certain physical theories.
• It establish the use of this term within the context of a broader intellectual
framework.
• It is a proposed way of thinking about potentially related events.
• The adoption of this definition requires investigation, observation, or
experimentation, so that we must be cautious in agreeing with it

Example:
• The definition of "Water,", is "a certain cluster of properties (e.g. liquidity.
transparency, non-acidity, non-causticity, etc.) that occur together
• “Overweight”, based on new theories put forth by the National institute of Health,
WHO suggesting greater risk than believe (‘ having a BMI (Body Mass Index) over
25” (rather than 27 for women and 28 for men).
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THE METHODS OF
DEFINITIONS
-DEFINITIONS CAN BE CLASSIFIED NOT ONLY
ACCORDING TO THEIR PURPOSE BUT ALSO
ACCORDING TO THEIR METHOD. THE "METHOD
OF A DEFINITION" IS THE MEANS BY WHICH THE
DEFINITION ACHIEVES ITS PURPOSE.
THERE ARE TWO BASIC METHODS OF DEFINING
TERMS, NAMELY, THE DENOTATIVE METHOD
AND THE CONNOTATIVE METHOD.

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 The Denotative Method
• Defines a term by identifying the extensions or objects thedefiniendum signifies.
However, there are terms to which thedenotative definition is not applicable
because there is no way toindicate the class members of the term or the
definiendum by enumeration, example, or ostension.
• In order to define terms of thissort, and more conveniently to define general terms
of every variety,we rely upon the second method of definition, that is, the
connotative method.

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 The Connotative Method
• Defines a term by identifying the intensions or qualities the definiendum implies.

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THE DENOTATIVE METHOD
OF DEFINITION
• There are four sub-methods under the denotative
method. They are the definition by description,
the definition by example, the definition by
enumeration, and the definition by ostension or
demonstration
1. Definition by Description
• Descriptive definition lists the different material
descriptions being ascribed to a certain word. To
illustrate: The term "house" can be defined as a
building with "a receiving parlor," "a bedroom," "a
dining hall," and the like.
2. Definition by Example/Enumeration
• Definition by example simply points out
examples associated with the word defined.
For example, we would define the term
"school" by listing down examples such as
UP, UST, DLSU, ADMU and so forth. A
variation of definition by example is
definition by enumeration of sub-classes. For
example, in defining "citrus fruit," one might
mention lemons, oranges, tangerines and
grapefruits. This definition is easy to do.
However, it has a disadvantage. Terms or
words cannot have their extensions
enumerated completely for various reasons.
For example, the extensions of the terms
"star" and "sand" would be very difficult to
enumerate completely. Thus, we may have
only partial enumeration.
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3. Definition by Ostension or Demonstration
• This method consists of presenting, pointing,
or demonstrating a concrete object which
the term implies. An example of this is
uttering "This is a table" while pointing at a
table. Definition by ostension is restricted to
terms whose extensions include members
which exist at present or in the very near
future and which, further, are in one's
immediate vicinity.

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THE CONNOTATIVE
METHOD OF DEFINITION
• There are two sub-methods under the
connotative method. They are the definition
by synonyms and the definition by analysis.
1. Definition by Synonyms
• is a simple method. Another word with a
similar meaning is used in place of the word
being defined. Let us take the statement
"Pope John Paul II is the vicar of Christ." The
word vicar means "substitute" or
"representative." The attributes vicar,
substitute, or representative, have the same
meaning as the term or the definiendum,
"Pope."
The Pope, then, serves as a substitute or
representative of Christ on earth. This definition
violates the second rule of good connotative
definition, that is, "avoid circularity."
2. Definition by Analysis
• The definition by analysis is also known as
the Aristotelian method of defining by genus
and specific difference. By genus, we mean
the attribute of the whole class of which the
definiendum is a part. And by specific
difference, we mean the attribute which
distinguishes the definiendum from other
members of the class.
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We may have these examples...

• Man is a rational animal

• A ball pen is an educational device for writing.

In the first example, the definiendum is the word "man," and the definiens of the
connotative definition includes the words rational" and "animal" Between these two
words, the term "animal" is a broad category that is true to all human beings. Animal
then, is the genus of the word, man." The word "rational" will enable us to set "man"
apart from the class of animals, and thus is called the specific difference In the second
example, the definition of the word "ball pen identifies "educational device" as the
genus to which all ball pens belong, and then specifies for writing" as the specific
difference that distinguishes them from books, papers, and so forth.

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 Illustrative Examples of Definition by Analysis
TERM GENUS SPECIFIC DIFFERENCE

1. A square is a four-sided plane with all of its sides equal and all of its
figure angles right angles

2. Brass is a metal made up of copper and zinc in

variable proportions

3. A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a finite verb

4. A submarine is a vessel which can operate both on a nd

beneath the surface of the sea

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Rules of Good Connotative Definition
Copi and Cohen (1997) lists five rules through which we
can evaluate the success of connotative definition
through genus and specific difference:

1. Focus on essential features. A good connotative definition should try to point out
the features that are essential to the designation of things as members of the relevant group.

2. Avoid circularity. When we use the term defined (definiendum) as part of the
connotative definition (definiens), we are not giving a more useful information. It defeats the
purpose of definition. Our aim is to give the audience clearer information about the term being
defined and yet, we are giving them no new data to make them understand the term better. Thus,
there isn't much point in defining "Cordless phone" as "a telephone that has no cord" and
"Socialism" as "a doctrine that advocates socialistic ideas."

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3. Capture the correct extension. The good connotative definition must be applicable to
all objects denoted by the term being defined. For example "Man is a rational animal." The definiens
"rational animal" is applied to all men, no more and no less. Thus, the definition must be co-extensive
with or equivalent to (not too broad, not too narrow) the term being defined so that even if the
definiens and the definiendum are interchanged, there is nothing altered in the statement. Consider
these two alternative definitions of the word "bird":

A bird is a "warm-blooded animal." A bird is a "flying animal."

In the first sentence, the definition is "too broad" since it includes the rest of the animals other than the
birds. In the second sentence, the definition is "too narrow" since it excludes the non-flying birds such
as penguin, kiwi, and the like.

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4. Avoid figurative or obscure language. Again, the goal of definition is to explain the
meaning of a term to someone who is unfamiliar with it. Thus, one must be very clear in his definition
so as not to make it much more obscure or ambiguous than the term being defined. The definition of
"politics as the science of the possible seems to be informative but does not lead us to a thorough
understanding of the meaning of the definiendum.

5. Be affirmative rather than negative. Terms should be defined positively whenever

possible so as to keep the audience informed of the meaning of the word. It would be quite absurd for
the speaker to give a definition using negative designations about the term. By so doing, no accurate
information is passed to the listener about the word being defined. We may have these examples:

Faith is not an expression of infidelity.

Inexpensive means that which is not expensive.
Right is that which is not wrong.
Honesty is not untruthfulness.

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THANK
YOU!
INTRODUCTION
ALAY-AY, JANICE T.
ALCID, MELOREN L.
PHILOSOPHY AND IT’S BRANCHES

• Philosophy is derived from two Greek words: “philos” or love and “sophia” or
wisdom.
• Thus, from its roots “philosophy” is defined as “the love of wisdom”.
• The branches of philosophy are grouped into two major divisions:
1. Theoretical division
2. Practical division
PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC

• Logic deals primarily with arguments while the other branches deal with
questions.
• Every question needs an answer.
• Honer (1998) points out that “philosophical inquiry will always demand
intellectual skill and intensive knowledge of the various logical procedures”.
• “In as much as reasoning is at the heart of philosophy, so logic has always
been a central concern for philosophers”.
NATURAL LOGIC AND SCIENTIFIC LOGIC

• Bittle (1950) classifies two kinds of logic: natural and scientific.

• Natural logic refers to the “gift of reason”, endowed to man as a special
faculty which enables him to have a sense what is logical or reasonable and
what is not.
• Scientific logic is a tool to help us sharpen our reasoning ability.
THE DEFINITION OF LOGIC

• Logic is traditionally defined as the “science and art of correct thinking”.

• As a science, logic is viewed in three aspects:
• 1. It needs a body of data (i.e. terms and propositions).
• 2. It adheres to a certain procedure, system or method (i.e. logical principles
and rules) in drawing out conclusions.
• 3. It aims at arriving at the validity of every argument.
• As an art, logic is viewed in relation to the Greek “techne” which means skills,
ability, or craft.
LOGIC AS A NORMATIVE SCIENCE

• Logic is also a “discipline”.

• It requires a strict compliance with the prescribe rules and principles on
correct argumentation and reasoning.
APPROACHES IN LOGIC

• There are two major approaches in the study of logic, namely: the informal
logic and the formal logic.
• Informal logic is an attempt to develop Logical tools that can analyze can
assess the informal reasoning that occurs in natural language contexts.
• Rhetorical arguments appear to be more sympathetic in attitude.
• Dialectical arguments consider argumentation as form of dialogical exchange
and resolution of disputes.
HISTORY OF LOGIC
• The person who is generally credited with the title Father of Logic is the ancient
Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
• It was Aristotle who first devised the systematic criteria for analyzing and evaluating
arguments.
• His logic is called syllogistic logic.
• Another Greek philosopher Chrysippus (279-206 B.C.), developed a form of logic in
which the fundamental elements were whole propositions.
• The physician Galen (A.D. 129-c 199) developed the theory of the compound
caterogical syllogism.
• The first major logician of the middle ages was Peter Abelard (1079-1142). Abelard
reconstructed and refined the logic of Aristotle and Chrysippus as communicated by
Bioethius.
• It attain its final expression in the writing of Oxford philosopher William of Occam (c.
1285-1349). Occam devoted much of his attention to modal logic, a kind of logic that
involves such notion as possibility, necessity, belief and doubt.
HISTORY OF LOGIC
• A reawakening did not occur until 200 years later through the work of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-
1716)
• Leibniz is sometimes credited as the father of symbolic logic.
• Leibniz efforts to symbolize logic were carried into the 19th century by Bernard bolzano ( 1781-1848).
• The work in symbolic logic was done by a number of philosophers and mathematicians, including
Augustus De Morgan (1806-1882), George Boole (1834-1923), William Stanley Jevons (1835-1882), and
John Venn (1834-1923).
• A revival in inductive logic was initiated by the British philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). It’s
main contribution is the method of induction.
• The foundation of modern mathematical logic were laid down by Gottlob Frege (1848-1925).
• Frege’s work was continued into the 20th century by Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) and Bertrand
Russell (1872-1970).
• A now-famous theorem by Kurt Goede (1906-1978) states that in any formal system adequate for
number theory there exists an undecidable formula.
INFORMAL LOGIC

• The origins of informal logic are found in the call for more relevant higher
education that characterizes the social and political movements of the 1960s.
• The two modern works with most anticipate and influence informal logic are
Hamblin’s “Fallacies” and Toulmin’s “The Uses of Argument”.
• The most influential figures in its development were Ralph H. Johnson and J.
Anthony Blair.
THE MATERIAL AND FORMAL OBJECT OF LOGIC

• The material object is the subject matter.

• The material object includes the three mental operations of simple
apprehension (terms), judgment (propositions) and reasoning (arguments).
• The formal object refers to the special view point from which the material
object is studied by a particular science.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDYING LOGIC

• As students
• As professionals
• As persons
Language

JOPHET L. AMAR
MAE JOY C. ARANETA
 At the end of this Lesson, the students are
expected to:
1. Link the significance of language to the study
of Logic
2. define signs and enumerate their elements.

3. differentiate the three areas of semiotics.

4. identify through examples each of the basic

functions of language.
5. illustrate the variations in linguistic forms.
 The two fields Language and Logic are often
treated separately, but they are nevertheless
related with each other as presented in the book
of Copi & Cohen (1997) and in this lesson. Their
interaction is based on the fact that correct
thinking can be expressed through the use of
words and sentences. Language allows us not
only to convey words and compose sentences but
also to develop our skills in making our reasoning
correct, clear and sound. Our reasoning can be
filled with errors or fallacies because we are
simply unaware of how our language is correctly
stated. This lesson discusses the nature of
language, the elements of signs, the three areas
in semiotics, and the basic functions of language
 The Nature of Language

Our world today is a sign-saturated cultural

environment. In communication, man uses signs
in order for him to be understood. Language as a
product of man, is an expressive sign of his inner
feelings, emotions, thoughts, rationalizations, and
creativities. Language makes us all humans. It
enables us to build, unbuild, and rebuild social
relationships.
 Natural Language
A natural language is an
ordinary language that is
spoken by a group of
individuals as their native
tongue. It is passed from one
generation to generation.
Ordinary languages is
English, French, and Filipino.
 Artificial Language
An artificial language is a machine
language used to code letters,
numbers, instructions, and storage
locations. An example of an artificial
language is a computer. It does not
require any translation in order to
function according to its coded
instructions.
THE ELEMENTS OF
SIGNS
 Semiotics or Semiology

(Greek; semion, sign) is

basically the study of signs.
These signs include spoken
words, sounds, images,
gestures, and a wide variety
of objects in our everyday
lives.
Ferdinand de Saussure
Roland Barthes

Barthes, focused
on non-verbal
semiotics. He
viewed “sign’’ in
relation to its
meaning (1967).
 Language, as a sign, is a something that
stands for something else (aliquid stat pro
aliquo). As Pierce (1958) writes.

“anything can be a sign as long as

someone interprets it as ‘signifying’
something-referring to or standing for
something other than itself.”
 Signifier

-Is a material or physical

form of the sign. It is
something which can be
seen, heard, touched,
smelt or tasted
(Saussure: 1983).
 -Is the mental concept
represented by the signifier.
To illustrate, the spoken or
written word “dog” is the
material signifier of the
universal concept “dog,”
which is signified.
 Referent

-is a concrete phenomenon with which

we continually interact in the real world.
The concept “dog” then, may have these
referents: Brownie, Blackie, Whitie. The
tie between the signifier and the referent
is known as the explicit referential
meaning (reference).
 The meaning behind every
sign is subject-dependent.
We need to have a person
who perceives the meaning
in the context of his
psychophysical experiences,
emotional feelings, social
overtones and cultural
implications
The Three Areas In
Semiotics
Charles Morris (1946)
Syntactics or
Syntax
-is concerned with the way sentences
are constructed from smaller parts,
such as words and phrases. It is known
also as the science of grammar
(Timbreza: 1992).
Semantics
 While syntactics is
concerned with the form of
expression in a language,
semantics focuses on the
word itself and on the
content or meaning.
Martinich (1996) may refer
these two either the referents
or the reference.
 Examples

“ The present king of France is baid .”

“ Colorless green ideas sleep furiously .”

 Pragmatics

- Is the third area of semiotics. It is the

study of the relation of signs to their
context. The socio-cultural context of the
speaker may serve to alter the meaning
of the word and develops its practical
uses and effects. Martinic(1996) provides
us this example which is an illustration of
a pragmatically-deviant sentence.
The basic Functions of Language
 Language permeates all the undertakings of
man, and man uses language in many ways and
for many purposes. Wittgenstein, as quoted by
Acuña (2001), says that:

“The function of words is as diverse as the

functions of the different objects in the
toolbox.”
The descriptive function of language
is also known as the informative
function. It focuses on language as
the tool in conveying information.
The information communicated is
accomplished through declarative
sentences or propositions which can
be evaluated as either true or false,
For example, we say;
 The expressive function of language deals with
the speakers use of language in conveying his
feelings and in evoking emotional response from
the listener. Truth and falsity have no bearing
under this basic function of Language. Feelings
emotions and attitudes have the characteristics
of being right or wrong, proper or improper,
appropriate or inappropriate, but not that they
are true or false.
The Variations in linguistic functions