1. "My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular." – Adlai Stevenson
2. In everyday life, the word "nice" used to mean the same as "precise"; and philosophers still use the word "nice" that way.
3. An amphiboly is an ambiguous sentence that results from faulty grammatical structure.
4. In bowling the word "strike" means knocking down all the pins in one attempt.

PART B. Consider the following reportive definitions. A reportive definition may be defective by being too broad or too narrow, employing an accidental feature, using obscure, metaphorical, or ambiguous language, or being completely circular. Explain on what (if any) grounds the following definitions might be criticized.

1. Optimist: one who proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Pessimist: one who fears this is true.
2. Biology is the science that studies the biological nature of things.
3. A student is someone who takes classes at West Valley College.
4. "Mammal" means a four-legged land animal that suckles its young.
5. "Clock" means an instrument for keeping time.
6. "Lie" means a locution deliberately antithetical to a verity apprehended by the intellect.
7. "Gun" means a device that shoots a projectile.
8. "Abortion" means the merciless slaughter of innocent babies.

PART C. Words may be defined by these methods: synonym, genus and species, enumeration, ostention, and example. Examine the definitions below and identify the method used.

1. "Plant" means something such as a tree, a flower, a vine, or a cactus.
2. "Tree" means this and this and this (as you point to a number of trees).
3. A substance is "translucent" if and only if when held up to a strong light some of the light comes through.
4. A girl is a young female human being.

Answers

Answers to Part A

1. "My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular." – Adlai Stevenson

Stipulative, because Stevenson is not reporting how people in general or people in a particular field talk or have talked.

Precising, because Stevenson’s definition is not arbitrary (it is related to, but not identical to, the normal idea of freedom).

2. In everyday life, the word "nice" used to mean the same as "precise"; and philosophers still use the word "nice" that way.

The first clause is reportive and historical. The second clause is reportive and disciplinary.

3. An amphiboly is an ambiguous sentence that results from faulty grammatical structure.

Reportive and lexical.

4. In bowling the word "strike" means knocking down all the pins in one attempt.

   Reportive and disciplinary.

Answers to Part B

1. Optimist: one who proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Pessimist: one who fears this is true.

This definition is what is sometimes called "revelatory." It fails as a reportive definition because it is too vague. It succeeds, however, as a joke.

2. Biology is the science that studies the biological nature of things.

Circular.

3. A student is someone who takes classes at West Valley College.

Too narrow. The denotation of "student" includes many people who go to other schools.

4. "Mammal" means a four-legged land animal that suckles its young.

Too narrow. The denotation of "mammal" includes at least one well-known aquatic animal that lacks legs (the whale).

5. "Clock" means an instrument for keeping time.

Too broad. A clock is only one of many possible instruments for keeping time (watches, sundials, etc.). That is, the denotation of the class of "instruments for keeping time" is larger than that of "clock."

6. "Lie" means a locution deliberately antithetical to a verity apprehended by the intellect.

Unnecessarily obscure language

7. "Gun" means a device that shoots a projectile.

Too broad. A gun is only one of many possible devices that shoot projectiles (bows, cyclotrons, etc.). That is, the denotation of the class of devices that shoot projectiles is larger than that of "gun".

8. "Abortion" means the merciless slaughter of innocent babies.

   Unnecessarily figurative and emotive language. This definition embodies a point of view about abortion; reportive definitions are supposed to be as neutral as possible.

Answers to Part C

1. "Plant" means something such as a tree, a flower, a vine, or a cactus.

Definition by example

2. "Tree" means this and this and this (as you point to a number of trees).

Ostensive definition

3. A substance is "translucent" if and only if when held up to a strong light some of the light comes through.

This doesn’t fit nicely into any of CW’s categories, but it exemplifies a common definitional technique called operational definition. In an operational definition, a procedure is described whereby you can determine if the thing in question is or is not a member of the denotation of the term. Other operational definitions include: "A cake is done when a toothpick can be stuck into it and pulled out dry;" or "A triangle is equilateral if and only if a compass, when placed sequentially on two vertices and properly adjusted, strikes through the other two vertices." Operational definitions are extremely important in science because they in effect tell an investigator how to replicate a result. Furthermore, if no operational definition can be given for a supposedly scientific concept, many philosophers would say the concept is meaningless.

4. A girl is a young female human being.

   Definition by genus (human being) and what CW call "species" (young, female).

   Conway and Munson's terminology is a little misleading here. More commonly, definitions like this are said to include three elements: the genus (the largest class), the species (a sub-group of the genus), and the differentiae (differences -- the characteristics that differentiate one species from other species of the same genus). In such definitions, the species is the definiendum, and the definiens states the genus and differentiae. In this example ("A girl is a young female human being"), the genus is "human being", the species (definiendum) is "girl", and thedifferentiae are "young" and "female," which are the characteristics that make girls different from other kinds of humans, such as boys (the species of the genus humans who are young and male) or women (the species of the genus humans who are older and female).

The CW book, p. 129ff., contains additional exercises on Chapters 8 and 9 (the assigned chapters for this Part).