What is a definition?
Foundations of Science 3 (1):111-132 (1998)
| Abstract | According to the standard view of definition, all defined terms are mere stipulations, based on a small set of primitive terms. After a brief review of the Hilbert-Frege debate, this paper goes on to challenge the standard view in a number of ways. Examples from graph theory, for example, suggest that some key definitions stem from the way graphs are presented diagramatically and do not fit the standard view. Lakatos's account is also discussed, since he provides further examples that suggest many definitions are much more than mere convenient abbreviations. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,705 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesBoudewijn de Bruin (2008). Wittgenstein on Circularity in the Frege-Russell Definition of Cardinal Number. Philosophia Mathematica 16 (3):354-373.
Jakub Mácha (forthcoming). How to Define a Unit of Length. 9th National Conference of the Italian Society for Analytic Philosophy. Truth, Knowledge, and Science, 2010.
Otávio Bueno & Mark Colyvan (2012). Just What is Vagueness? Ratio 25 (1):19-33.
Jorn Sonderholm (2008). Having Fun with the Periodic Table: A Counterexample to Rea's Definition of Pornography. Philosophia 36 (2):233-236.
Edward H. Madden (1961). Definition and Reduction. Philosophy of Science 28 (4):390-405.
K. Stock (2000). Some Objections to Stecker's Historical Functionalism. British Journal of Aesthetics 40 (4):479-491.
Karsten Klint Jensen (2003). What is the Difference Between (Moderate) Egalitarianism and Prioritarianism? Economics and Philosophy 19 (1):89-109.
Lars Hallnäs (2006). On the Proof-Theoretic Foundation of General Definition Theory. Synthese 148 (3):589 - 602.
Don Fallis (2010). Lying and Deception. Philosophers' Imprint 10 (11).
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads39 ( #29,838 of 549,128 )Recent downloads (6 months)5 ( #15,205 of 549,128 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
