Principles of definition

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The Principles of definition by W. Lindsay Wheeler

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The principles of definition are operations that must be necessarily employed to make a right denotation of a particular thing whether material or metaphysical: material such as animals, plants, objects, tools etc; metaphysical such as forms of government, philosophical and religious terms, etc. All human tasks require a set of laws/rules/axioms that must be done in order to accomplish it. One must follow certain criteria that is necessary in order to get it done. Human thought is no different. In layman's terms, "To know what one is speaking of", concretely and without confusion, one needs a set of techniques/principles to accomplish the task of communication and knowing. Precision or accuracy is the heart of defining. These principles of definition form the basic foundation for knowledge, Truth, philosophy, and logic. They are tools, mental tools, that need to be understood by any student, teacher, scholar, scientist, philosopher, and especially encyclopedists. The principles of definition constitutes the Scientific Spirit that moulded Western thought, Western culture, and made it distinctive. ¹¹ They are the first steps in Platonic and Thomist/Aristotleian Scholastic philosophy and in all sciences.

There is a science to human perception and communication.

Words are powerful tools and they are often misused and abused. Socrates recognized this danger when he said, "False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil." ⁷ Political science professor Carl J. Richard writes that humans exhibit a notorious inconsistency and "have always proven quite capable of holding contradictory views simultaneously." ¹² The object of the principles of definition is to counteract this common human defect of inconsistency by making human thought precise and accurate.

The use of words has an ethical impact and bearing upon the success of human society and endeavors.

Contents 1 Principles of Definition 2 Socratic Elenchus 3 Organizing Knowledge 4 The job of an encyclopaedist 5 Miscellania 6 See also 7 References 8 Bibliography

Principles of Definition

The first major works on the nature of definition were the Platonic dialogs. In the early dialogues, Plato captures the character and mission that Socrates was doing. The early dialogues frequently portray Socrates engaging Athenians in their use of words. More often than not, Socrates typically examines the definitions suggested by his interlocators and finds them deficient. They always violate one or more of these three principles of definition:

• The principle of identity—This simply states that A is A. A is not B. A is not C. A is A. It stricly means this and nothing but this. This principle of identity is laid down in the Republic of Plato.
• The principle of non-contradiction—Paramenides' principle of non-contradiction is that a subject can not hold two predicates that oppose each other. If the dog is of a solid color, it cannot be said to be both black and white. It is either Black or it is White. Oxymorons are created this way. Examples: Square circle; living dead; democratic republic; far-right neo-Nazi,(Nazi an acronym for "nationalist socialist workers party" and socialists are leftists); etc. These are all contradictory terms placed together that negate themselves.
• The principle of consistency—The principle of consistency states that a definition must apply to all relevent situations. It must be able to be used at various times and locations. For example, Socrates states, "And I will begin with courage, and once more ask what is that common quality, which is the same in all these cases, and which is called courage?" ⁸ Socrates is always looking for this "common quality". What his interlocutors do is have courage mean "this". Then Socrates would apply that definition to another situation; soon to find out that the original definition doesn't apply to another situation requiring courage. Socrates asks the individual then to give a definition of courage that "will fit all situations" that require courage. By this demonstration, Socrates seeks for true meaning. This consistency will help to eliminate confusion and incoherence. The criteria of truth is consistency. Several generations later, Cicero said, "Truth is not one thing in Athens and another thing in Rome. Truth is not one thing yesterday and another thing today." Cicero said that philosophers should be judged "by the degree of consistency and coherence which this whole body of doctrine displays". ²

Socrates states that the modality of knowing is to "define and divide". That is, we come to know something when an object is defined and then differentiated from other objects. ⁴ Socrates says about an interloquitor, "When he thinks that he is reasoning he is really disputing, just because he cannot define and divide, and so know that of which he is speaking; and he will pursue a merely verbal opposition in the spirit of contention and not of fair discussion." ⁵

This "define and divide" approach involves two steps. The definition step is an application of the principle of identity. A thing is what it is, the sum of its attributes. The differentiation step contrasts and divides the object off from all other things and asks what differentiates the object from all other things. This must be specific and of sharp contrast so that it is easily recognizable. That is, knowledge incorporates definition and division from what it is not. Knowledge, then, is in the business of knowing of an object. Definitions can be seen as a general description of what a thing is, and furthermore differentiates it sharply from what it is not. For example, the definition of a radio could be "an electronic device (general description of what it is) that receives and demodulates a radio frequency broadcast signal then converts it into sound waves" (what differentiates it from related devices). From the modality of "define and divide" comes knowledge.

The subject matter of knowledge is "being". Knowledge is to know the nature of being. ³ If it exists, we can know it. Knowledge then is what is apprehended from being. Every being gives off its evidence. This evidence is what is called essence. What defines a particular essence from another essence is its characteristics. If the characteristics disappear, then the being disappears.

When knowledge is faithful to the evidence it becomes true. Truth is defined as faithful representation of reality. ¹ As reality is static and consistent, words must also be consistent with reality. Truth and knowelge are practically synonymous. Truth and knowledge are also associated with the golden mean; the midpoint between extremes, between the extremes of the under-report and the over-report, between ignorance and exaggeration. Words are to convey a faithful representation of reality and that representation must be through time and space as well.

As for truth and knowledge being practically the same, "Truth is a property of knowledge when judgement is in harmony with being, as it is in reality; otherwise falsity is present." ⁶

Socratic Elenchus

Socrates uses these principles as the basis of his Socratic method called the elenchus. He places what his interlocuturs say into these principles to see if they work. And usually they don't. Socrates puts forward these principles so that his listeners can then use these principles themselves to discover the true meaning of words. These principles standardize the definition of words so that communication is clear and concise.

Organizing Knowledge

Another facet of the process of definition is the organization of that knowledge. Knowledge must be ordered coherently before it can be used and defined. The ancient Greeks used the two step "define and divide" approach to construct categorizational schemes and taxonomies. The "Genus" is the general category, and the "Species" is the differentia. The importance of this is that people don't confuse specific words with general ideas and meanings. See the democracy article for an illustration. Democracy is a "genus" and "direct" and "indirect" are species.

The job of an encyclopaedist

The encyclopaediast job is to "catologue" information and knowledge and also to "protect" words and definitions from being abused and misused. The principles of definition afford the encyclopaedist a clear cut formula for maintaining integrity of his work.

Miscellania

• "Why we valiantly and pugnaciously insist upon the verbal truth,..." ~ Socrates ¹³
• "It is the opinion of Plato, that changes in the dress and habits of the citizens portend great changes and commotions in the state; and I am inclined to believe that when the language in common use in any country becomes irregular and depraved, it is followed by their ruin or their degradation. For what do terms used without skill or meaning, which are at once corrupt and misapplied, denote but a people listless, supine, and ripe for servitude? On the contrary, we have never heard of any people or state which has not flourished in some degree of prosperity as long as their language has retained its elegance and its purity." ~ John Milton ¹⁰
• "Confusion of words and meanings leads to the confusion of minds, and the confusion of minds breeds upheavels and revolution, as a well-known American once rightly pointed out". ~ Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn ¹⁴
• "A man who deliberately inflicts violence on the language will almost certainly inflict violence on human beings if he acquires the power. Those who treasure the meaning of words will treasure truth, and those who bend words to their purposes are very likely in pursuit of anti-social ones. The correct and honorable use of words is the first and natural credential of civilized status." ~ Paul Johnson ⁹

See also

• Truth
• Meaning
• Definition
• Revolution within the form
• Christopher M. Hutton linguistic scholar investigating the links between politics and linguistics.

References

1. Apostolos Makrakis
2. On the Good Life, Cicero, trans. By Michael Grant, Penguin Classics, NY, l971. pg 70. Discussions at Tusculum 10,31.
3. Republic, Plato, trans. By B. Jowett, M.A., Vintage Books, NY. §619; pg 394
4. Republic, §478; pg 209.
5. Republic, §454; pg 174.
6. see entry "Knowledge", Catholic Encyclopaedia, l967. Vol 8, pg 225
7. Phaedo, §115e
8. (need to find reference)
   1. another reference: The Collected Dialogues of Plato, edited by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns, Bollingen Series LXXI, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, l961. Laches 191d; pg 173.
9. Paul Johnson, Enemies of Society, New York: Atheneum, 1977, p 259.
10. John Milton letter to Benedetto Bonomatthai, September 10, 1638
11. "In this we recognise Socrates as the teacher of the scientific spirit,...", Intro to Phil., Maritain, pg 37.
12. Founders and the Classics, Carl J. Richards, pg 6.
13. Plato, Republic, B. Jowett translation, Vintage Books. § 454, pg 174.
14. Menace of the Herd, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, (under the psuedonym, Francis Stuart Campbell), The Bruce Publishing Company, 1943. pg 10.

Bibliography

• Introduction to Philosophy, Jacques Maritain, Christian Classics, Inc., Westminister, MD. 1991.