Definitions

What is this Tutorial About?

Now that Simple Indication has dealt with the دال مفرد and Indicated Concept has dealt with the مدلول تصوري, we are now ready to understand how to form definitions.

Forming Definitions

Defining a Particular

The explanation of a تصور is called قول شارح (explanation). In order to explain a particular, we would simply state the species under which it belongs. For example, in order to give a قول شارح for the term “Tom”, we’d simply say that Tom is a particular human. If that is not sufficient for the audience, we would need to include certain properties – a set of خواص or عوارض – in order to further elaborate on who Tom is. We would say, for instance, that Tom is a particular human who happens to be Harry’s father.

Defining a Universal

Sometimes a concept is already known given its name. For example, most of us understand what a triangle is – it is a 2-dimensional figure enclosed by three sides. Therefore, we can express the concept of triangle by simply utilizing the name “triangle” given to it. The name given to a concept by which it is recognized is called its اسم (name or identifier).

Often times a concept is not understood by the audience given its identifier, but there may be other identifiers which the audience does understand. For example, if the audience doesn’t understand the term “canon”, we may employ the word “law” instead. Or if the audience doesn’t understand the English term “law”, we may use translation and employ the word قانون. This is known as explanation through synonymy (Ar. ترادف, En. synonymy). In certain cases, explanation through synonymy is the only means of explanation available. The root universal, for instance, has no genus and, as we will see shortly, it therefore cannot be defined. In this case, we would be forced to resort to synonymy or translation.

Now, the definition of a universal is an explanation which is completely equivalent to it and interchangeable with it. In order to define a universal, we first set it as a species. A species, in fact, is nothing more than the combination of a genus and a set of differentiae. Therefore, in order to define a species, we simply split it up into those constituent universals.

The most precise method of defining a species is to utilize its closest genus and to mention all of its differentiae. Remember that the definition of a universal should be interchangeable with its identifier. Therefore, if we neglect even one of the possibly many differentiae, the definition is not complete. Take, for example, the universal Animal. The closest genus for Animal is Growing Body. And all of its differentiae are: Has a Soul, Sense Perceiving, Moves at Will. Although mentioning Has a Soul is sufficient in differentiating Animal from all other Growing Bodies, it is inappropriate in rendering a definition to leave out any of these quiddities. Therefore, Sense Perceiving, Moves at Will, etc must also be mentioned.

This type of definition is called حد تام (complete definition). And notice that any universal can have only one حد تام; why?

Another, less precise, method of definition is to use some distant genus in place of the closest genus. For example, were we to define Animal as a Solid that Has a Soul, Sense Perceives, and Moves at Will, this would be somewhat inaccurate because, although the audience may have been able to distinguish Animal from all other universals, the given definition is not actually interchangeable with the name “Animal”. A similar imprecision can be achieved by omitting the genus altogether, as in defining Animal as (something that) Has a Soul, Sense Perceives, and Moves at Will. This type of definition is known as حد ناقص (imprecise definition).

Another method of explanation is identifying a universal by utilizing the closest genus, but unique concomitants in place of differentiae. Recall that unique concomitants will help differentiate a universal from all others in the same genus, but that they are not constitutive. As a result, this explanation, too, is not interchangeable with the universal’s identifier. For example, we can identify Human by saying that it is a Growing Body that Laughs. This is known as رسم تام (precise identification). It is precise because we have mentioned the closest genus and enough accidental properties to differentiate it from other universals in the same family. But it is still not a definition since it is not interchangeable with the identifier.

And finally, a very weak form of explanation is to utilize a distant genus and an accidental property, or an accidental property alone. An  example of this is identifying Human by calling it a Laughing Body, or by calling it (something that) Laughs. This is known as رسم ناقص (imprecise identification).

Errors in Definition

Certain mistakes commonly arise when forming definitions. Briefly, these include the following.

·         The differentia is put in place of the genus and vice versa. For example, a Triangle is three sides that form an enclosed figure. The correct definition is that a Triangle is a figure enclosed by three sides.

·         The genus is replaced by the material. For example, a CPU is circuitry that fetches, decodes, and either executes or dispatches instructions. The correct definition is that a CPU is the part of a computer that fetches, decodes, and either executes or dispatches instructions.

·         The genus is replaced by the molecular composition. For example, a CPU is silicon that fetches, decodes, and either executes or dispatches instructions.

·         The genus is replaced by the constituents of the universal. For example, Ten is five and five.

·         A universal is defined with the help of something more conspicuous than it. For example, a Riddle is an enigma posed as a question and used to test one’s intelligence.

·         The definition results in a circular dependency. For instance, Odd is the opposite of even and Even is the opposite of odd.

A Compendium of Logic Terminology Studied Thus Far