Logic and Critical Thinking PHIL 1011 Logic and Meaning Group Assignment Getabalew Manegerew Girma Enkuchila Mesfin Tiki Dawit Shewa Idosa Lulu ID no. UaR/6981/15 UGR/2130/15 UGR/4048/15 uer/2903/15 UGR/7786/15 Submitted to: Hannibal Bekele May, 2023 G.CAddis Ababa, Ethiopia Table content Topics Page Logic and meaning i Intension and Extension of Terms 2 Definition and Purpose 3 Techniques of Defintion 4 Lexical Rule 4 Reference 6Logic and meaning Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the origins of language, nature of meaning, the usage and cognition of language and the relationship between language and reality. It is an Important discipline in its own right and hence, it poses questions like "what is meaning? ‘does language refer to the world? “and ete. Language is a body of standard meanings of words and the form of speech used as a means of, ‘expressing the feeling, emotion, desire, thought etc. in a consistent pattern of communication. Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein thought that the number of functions of language to be virtually unlimited. Language can be used in every aspects of everyday life. ie “To form hypothesis. ~ Give command ~ Argue with others. + Tell jokes For our purpose, twa linguistic Functions of language are particularly important:() to convey information ( i) to express feelings + Terminology that conveys information is said to have cognitive meaning. + Terminology that expresses feeling is said to have emotive meaning. Logicis concerned chiefty with cognitive meaning. While, emotive meanings encompasses value ‘claim, Value claim is that samething is good, bad right, wrong,better,warse, more important, less Important than some other thing. For purpose of logic, we must be able to disengage the value ‘claims of emotively charged statements. In arguments, emotive terminology accomplishes basically ‘the same function as it does in statements. Definition If we consider cognitive meaning specifically from emotive meaning, two defectives may raise. Namely they are vagueness and ambiguity. ‘A vague expression: is one that allows for borderline cases in which itis impossible to tell if the ‘expression applies or does not apply. Trouble arises only when the language is not sufficiently precise ‘for what the situation demands. ‘An ambiguous expression: is one that can be interpreted as having more than one clearly distinct meaning in given context. It can affect entire statement. Such ambiguity and vagueness is that vague ‘terminology allows for a relatively continuous range of interpretations. A vague Due to those blurred and mixed up expressions a conflict may occurred. The role of vagueness and ambiguity in arguments may be conveniently explored in the context of conflicting arguments between individuals. Such conflicts are called disputes. Disputes are generally classified into two. Namely + Verbal disputes : are disputes from vagueness or ambiguity of words. + Factual dispute : are disputes from given fact.The Intension and Extension of Terms Atermis any word or arrangement of words that may serve as the subject of the statement. Terms consists of proper names, common names and descriptive phrases. Here are some examples; + Proper names: Napoleon, Narth Dakota ete. - Common names: Animal, restitution, activity... ete - Descriptive phrases: President of CBE, Captain of St. George... etc. Words that are not terms include verbs, non-substantive adjectives, adverbs, propositions, conjunctions, and all non-syntactic arrangements of words. itis important to distinguish the use of word from the mention of a word, without this distinction any word can be imagined to serve as the subject of a statement and, therefore count as a term. Words are unusually considered to be ‘symbols and the entities they symbolized are usually called meaning. Terms being made of words, are also symbols, but the meaning they symbolize are of two kinds. The Intensional meaning: consists of the qualities or attributes the term connotes. The Extensional meaning: consists of the members of the class that the term denotes. For instance, the intension of the tern "cat " consists of the attributes of being furry of having four legs, of moving in a certain way, of emitting certain sounds and so on. And the extension consists if the cats themselves, all the catsin the universe Intention and Extension are roughly equivalent to the modern terms “sense” and “reference” respectively, Because of subjective elements inevitably lead to confusion when it comes to identifying the connotation of specific terms, logicians typically restrict the meaning of connotation ‘to what may be called conventional connotation. The conventional connotation of a term consists of the properties or attributes that the term remains more or less the same from person to person and from time to time. The denotation of a term also typically remains the sane form person to person, but it may change with passage of time. Sometimes the denotation of a term can change radically ‘with the passage of time. Accordingly, these terms at specific time have what is called empty extension, The intensional meaning of a term serve as the criterion for deciding what the extension consists of ‘One kind of term that raises problems for the intension determine the extension rule is proper names. For example, the name “ffohn” might not appear to have any intension, but it denotes the person who has this name. The possible solution for such like intensional meaning problems is proper names consists of the casual chain of events leading from the point at which certain person learns about the name. A series of terms maybe either increasing or decreasing in meaning ift arranged in such order. Increasing intension meaning is the same as decreasing extension. Increasing intension is connating more attribute than the previous, while decreasing extension the opposite one. Example: animal, mammal, primate, homo. Decreasing intensional meaning is to mean increasing extension. Each term in the series denotes a class having more members than the preceding term. Example: homo, primate, mammal, animal,Definition and Purpose means a group of words that assigns a meaning to some word or a groups of word, It has two parts: Definiendum and Definies + Definiendum is a group of word that is supposed to be defined. + Definies isa group of words that does the defining. For Example: “Bachelor” is defined as Unmarried man The word "Bachelor" is definiendum and Unmarried man is Definies + Based on function (usage) they have definition is classified in to five LStipulative definition %* Assigns a meaning to word for first time Its assignment is arbitrary (random) and has no truth value(true or false Caused by new phenomena and development It used to simplify complex expression It used to set new secret code. For Example: "operation sunset” Ethio Eritrea war in (1998). 2.laxical Definition (reportive Definition) * * * * It report the meaning of words actually exist in dictionary. It provides dictionary meaning of terms: It has truth value Itis important to avoid ambiguity by listing various meaning of word that have. For example: “Prime number” Number divisible by 1 and itself. 3.precising Definition vv It make a vague term more precise, often for specific purpose. 4 Reduce blurredness of words 4 A word used in systematic context such as science, medicine, Mathematics, law are. Precising Definition For example,: “Antique” 4.Theorical Definition 1eans at least 100 years old ¥ Assigns 2 meaning to word by suggesting theory that gives a certain characterization < It has ne truth value < Help in general understanding and scientific practice For example: “light” is form electromagnetic radiation 5. Persuasive Definition | Endanger favorable or unfavourable attitude toward what is denoted by Definiendum = Itused to win acceptance of audience ‘= It used to change attitude of audience © Topersuade listeners = Tostir emotion = For Example:"Federalism"is s political intrigue that provides legitimate ground For ‘emergence of new regional warlord’sTechniques Of Definition Extensional {Denotative) Definitional Technigu Extensional Definition. assign meaning to a term by indicating a member. ‘There are many ways of indicating extensional meaning of a term. 1.Demonstrative(ostensive) Definition-It uses pointing as.a technique to define terms Example-"Chait" means This this and this by pointing. 2.Enumerative Definition-assign meaning by naming partial or complete member of class. Example-"Actor" means a person such as Mahder Asefa, Samson Taddese... 3.Defi jon by sub class ~Assign a meaning to a term by naming subclass of class. Example: "Fiction" means poem, a novel, short story... Intentional (connotative) Definitional Technique The intentional Defini sign meaning by indicating the quality or attributes of term. synonymous Definition -define with other similar word. Example-"Observe" means see. 2.Etymological meaning-assign meaning by disclosing the word ancestry. Example""License" means derived from Latin word which means permitted. 3.Operational Definition-assign a meaning by specifying certain experimental procedure. Example- a solution is an “acid” ifand only if litmus paper turned red when dipped into it 4.Definition by genus and difference -assign a meaning by identifying species genus and difference. Example-"Ice “means Species Difference Genus Kee frozen water % itis the most effective way from all intentional definition. Criteria for lexical definitionItis appropriate that we have a set of rule to construct our own lexical definition and to evaluate ‘others. Those rules specifically intended for lexical definition, Rule 1: A lexical definition should conform to the standards of proper grammar, ~ Adefinition like any other form of expression, should be grammatically correct. Rule 2: A lexical definition should convey the essential meaning of the ward being defined, - _ Ifwe defined the word “stone” as type of substance it says nothing about the “stone” specific features rather the word “stone” defined as ; hard solid non ‘metallic minerals matter of which stone is made Rule 3: A lexical definition should be neither too broad nor too narrow. = Ifa definition is too broad, the definiens include too much if itis too narrow, the definiens includes too litle. Only synonymous definition and definition by genus and difference prone to this deficiency. Rule 4: A lexical definition should not be circular = Sometimes circularity appears with pairs of definitions. However, sometimes definition maybe intrinsically circular. ~ Example: silence " means the state of being silent Rule 5: A lexical definition should not be negative when it can be affirmative. = Though some definitions are intrinsically negative, to: be a definitions paulisable, tthe definition should be affirmative as possible Example: “ Equilibrium “is absence of unbalanced forces. {less paulisable ) “ Equilibrium “ is a state of balanced influence, ( more paulisable } Rule 6: A lexical definition should not be, expressed in figurative, obscure, vague, or ambiguous language = A definition is figurative if it involves metaphors or intended to paint a picture instead of exposing the essential meaning of a term ~ _ Adefinition is obscure if ts meaning is hidden as a result of defective or inappropriate language ~ _Adefinition is vague if it lacks precision or ifits meaning is blurred that i, if there is no way of telling exactly what class of things the definition refers to. = Adefinition is ambiguous if it lends itself to more than one distinct Interpretation. Rule 7: A lexical definition should avoid affective terminology ~ Affective terminology is any kind of word usage that plays upon emotions of the reader or listener. Rule &: A lexical definition should indicate the context to which the context of the definiens pertains. = This rule applies to any definition in which the context of the definiens is Important to the meaning of the definiendumReference 1. A Concise Introduction to Logic, 13th Edition, Patrick ff. Hurley, Lori Watson © 2018, 2015, 2012 Cengage Learning 2. Critical thinking and logic, PHIL 1011, 2019 3. Internet blogs and Wikipedia