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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]
|