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Single Idea 4385

[filed under theme 2. Reason / D. Definition / 5. Genus and Differentia ]

Full Idea

For Aristotle, to give a definition one must first state the genus and then the differentia of the kind of thing to be defined.

Clarification

'Genus' is category; 'differentia' are distinguishing marks within the category

Gist of Idea

Aristotelian definition involves first stating the genus, then the differentia of the thing

Source

report of Aristotle (works [c.330 BCE]) by J.O. Urmson - Aristotle's Doctrine of the Mean p.157

Book Ref

'Essays on Aristotle's Ethics', ed/tr. Rorty,Amélie Oksenberg [University of California 1980], p.157

A Reaction

Presumably a modern definition would just be a list of properties, but Aristotle seeks the substance. How does he define a genus? - by placing it in a further genus?

Related Idea

Idea 4385 Aristotelian definition involves first stating the genus, then the differentia of the thing [Aristotle, by Urmson]

The 23 ideas with the same theme [its class, and then its distinguishing feature]:

12355 'Plane' is the genus of plane figures, and 'solid' of solids, with differentiae picking out types of corner [Aristotle]
12352 Whiteness can only belong to man because an individual like Callias happens to be white [Aristotle]
11383 A definition is of the universal and of the kind [Aristotle]
10961 Definition by division is into genus and differentiae [Aristotle]
12356 If the genus is just its constitutive forms (or matter), then the definition is the account of the differentiae [Aristotle]
17040 If I define you, I have to use terms which are all true of other things too [Aristotle]
12081 Aristotle's definitions are not unique, but apply to a range of individuals [Aristotle, by Witt]
12353 Species and genera are largely irrelevant in 'Metaphysics' [Aristotle, by Wedin]
12261 Differentia are generic, and belong with genus [Aristotle]
12263 'Genus' is part of the essence shared among several things [Aristotle]
12272 We describe the essence of a particular thing by means of its differentiae [Aristotle]
12279 The differentia indicate the qualities, but not the essence [Aristotle]
12283 In definitions the first term to be assigned ought to be the genus [Aristotle]
12289 The genera and the differentiae are part of the essence [Aristotle]
4385 Aristotelian definition involves first stating the genus, then the differentia of the thing [Aristotle, by Urmson]
13070 If definitions must be general, and general terms can't individuate, then Socrates can't be defined [Aquinas, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
11197 The definitions expressing identity are used to sort things [Aquinas]
17239 Definition is resolution of names into successive genera, and finally the difference [Hobbes]
12538 Genus is a partial conception of species, and species a partial idea of individuals [Locke]
12980 Genus and differentia might be swapped, and 'rational animal' become 'animable rational' [Leibniz]
14266 Aristotle sees hierarchies in definitions using genus and differentia (as we see them in sets) [Fine,K]
12242 Definition distinguishes one kind from another, and individuation picks out members of the kind [Oderberg]
12249 'Animal' is a genus and 'rational' is a specific difference [Oderberg]