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Full Idea
Arguably, 'there is absolutely no space between two objects in contact' is false, but definitional of 'contact'. ...We need a word for true definitional sentences. I propose: 'analytic'.
Gist of Idea
It seems possible for a correct definition to be factually incorrect, as in defining 'contact'
Source
Theodore Sider (Writing the Book of the World [2011], 09.8)
Book Ref
Sider,Theodore: 'Writing the Book of the World' [OUP 2011], p.192
602 | Some fools think you cannot define anything, but only say what it is like [Antisthenes (I), by Aristotle] |
5619 | No a priori concept can be defined [Kant] |
22201 | The use of mathematical-style definitions in philosophy is fruitless and harmful [Husserl] |
14115 | Definition by analysis into constituents is useless, because it neglects the whole [Russell] |
14159 | In mathematics definitions are superfluous, as they name classes, and it all reduces to primitives [Russell] |
12619 | We have no successful definitions, because they all use indefinable words [Fodor] |
9331 | How do we determine which of the sentences containing a term comprise its definition? [Horwich] |
12585 | Most people can't even define a chair [Peacocke] |
14981 | Philosophical concepts are rarely defined, and are not understood by means of definitions [Sider] |
15015 | It seems possible for a correct definition to be factually incorrect, as in defining 'contact' [Sider] |
20391 | Feminists warn that ideologies use timeless objective definitions as a tool of repression [Davies,S] |