Task 2 - Hurley chapter 2 Flashcards
Linguistic functions
- convey info
- express/evoke feelings
- cognitive meaning
- emotive meaning
mostly statements like this have both
cognitive meaning
terminology that conveys information
value claim: a claim that something is good , bad, right wrong, better or worse, more or less important than some other thing
- require evidence to support them
emotive meaning
terminology that expresses or evokes feelings
leads people to accept information without evidence
value claim
value claim: a claim that something is good , bad, right wrong, better or worse, more or less important than some other thing
How to evaluate validity?
rephrase the argument in emotively neutral language , making implicit suggestions and value claims explicit
vague expression
allows for borderline cases in which it is impossible to tell if the expression applies or does not apply
- Ostern allow for a continuous rage of interpretation
e.g. leve, happiness, peace fresh, rich, poor, normal , conservative, polluted
ambiguous expressions
one that can be interpreted as having more than one clearly distinct meaning in a given context
allows multiple discrete interpretations
e.g. light, proper, critical, stress, was, inflate, chest, bank, sound ,race
Term
any word or arrangement of words that may serve as the subject of a statement
not terms: verbs, non substantive , adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and all non syntactic arrangement of words
2 types of cognitive meaning of words
- intentional meaning/ intention
2. extensional meaning/ extension
Intentional meaning/ intension
consists of the qualities or attributes that the term connotes
- also known as connotation
e. g. cat = furry, having four legs
- connotation of term remains more or less the same from person to person and from time to time
Extensional meaning/extension
consists of the members of the class that the term denotes
- also known as denotation
- Denotation of a term typically remain the same from person to person, but may change over time
e.g. the cat themselves, all cats in the universe
conventional connotation
conventional connotaiopm of a term includes:
teh Attributes that the term commonly calls forth in the minds of competent speakers od the language
empty extension
denote the empty class that class that has no member e.g. current king od France (not a thing anymore), unicorns, leprechauns
Intention determines extension
- increasing intension
- decreased intension
- increased extension
- decreasing extension
increasing intension
each term in the series after the first is more specific than the one preceding it
e.g. animal, mammal, feline, tiger
decreasing intension
reverse of increasing intention
Tiger, felin , mammal, animal
increasing extension
when the size class gets larger
e.g. tiger, feline, mammal, animal
decreasing extension
reverse of increasing extension
e.g. animal, mammal, felin , tiger
Definitions
every definition consists of two parts:
- definiendum
- defines
Definiendum
the word or group of words that is supported to be defines
defines
the word or group of words that does the defining
stipulative definitions
assigns a meaning to a words for the first time
- may involve coining a new word or giving a new meaning to an older word
- purpose: usually to replace more complex expression with simpler one
- no such thing as true or false stipulative defintion
Lexical definition
reports the meaning that a word already has a language
- dictionary definition
- may be true or false depending on wether it didoes or does not report the way a word is actually used
precising defenition
reduce the vagueness of a word
- the assignment of a meaning in a premising definition is not at all arbitrary
theoretical definition
assigns a meaning to a word by suggesting a theory that gives a certain characterization to the entities that the term denotes
- provides a way of viewing/ conceiving these entities that suggest deductive consequences, further investigation or other
- Neither true or false –> function as proposals to see or interpret some phenomenon In a certain way
Persuasive definition
engender a favorable/ unfavorable attitude toward what is denoted by the definiendum
• Assigning an emotionally charged or value-laden meaning to a word while making it appear that the word really has that meaning in the language in which it is used
