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Full Idea
How are we to determine which of the sentences containing a term comprise its definition?
Gist of Idea
How do we determine which of the sentences containing a term comprise its definition?
Source
Paul Horwich (Stipulation, Meaning and Apriority [2000], §2)
Book Ref
'New Essays on the A Priori', ed/tr. Boghossian,P /Peacocke,C [OUP 2000], p.151
A Reaction
Nice question. If I say 'philosophy is the love of wisdom' and 'philosophy bores me', why should one be part of its definition and the other not? What if I stipulated that the second one is part of my definition, and the first one isn't?
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] |