structure for 'Reason'    |     expand these ideas

2. Reason / D. Definition / 7. Contextual Definition

[definition relying wholly on facts about context]

14 ideas
We can't define a word by defining an expression containing it, as the remaining parts are a problem [Frege]
Originally Frege liked contextual definitions, but later preferred them fully explicit [Frege, by Dummett]
Nothing should be defined in terms of that to which it is conceptually prior [Frege, by Dummett]
Any linguistic expression may lack meaning when taken out of context [Russell]
Bentham's contextual definitions preserved terms after their denotation became doubtful [Quine]
Contextual definition shifted the emphasis from words to whole sentences [Quine]
Definition by words is determinate but relative; fixing contexts could make it absolute [Quine]
A contextual definition permits the elimination of the expression by a substitution [Dummett]
The idea that groups of concepts could be 'implicitly defined' was abandoned [Hodges,W]
The attempt to define numbers by contextual definition has been revived [Wright,C, by Fine,K]
'Contextual definitions' replace whole statements, not just expressions [Mautner]
An 'implicit definition' gives a direct description of the relations of an entity [Shapiro]
Contextual definitions eliminate descriptions from contexts [Linsky,B]
Contextual definitions replace a complete sentence containing the expression [George/Velleman]