Clear Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Credibility

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Clear Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Credibility
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Language and definitions

• A definition states the meaning of a word.
• The word being defined is the definiendum and the
  definition is the definiens.
• Numerous types of definitions exist, and defining
  a word can mean a variety of things.

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Definitions

• Are definitions a help or a hindrance in
  understanding our world?
• One school of thought maintains that by defining
  things we separate then into discrete parts when
  in fact the world is continuous, a seamless
  cloth.
• The idea is that when we define an object we
  artificially snip off pieces from the endlessness
  of reality in order to make it manageable, but
  something of the objects essence becomes lost
  when we try to harness it by forcing it into the
  limits of a definition.

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Definitions

• However, we do know that to think without
  language is extremely difficult, but with a set
  of defined words we can conceive and imagine
  things almost without limits.
• Overall, definitions enrich our understanding.

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Reportive Definitions

• Lexical definitions in this kind of definition
  a description is offered of the conventional
  meaning of a word, and if the description does
  not match the actual way that the word is used,
  then the definition is incorrect.
• Depending on the accuracy of the survey of the
  usage, the definition is either true or false.
• A lexical definition gives an explanation of the
  general meaning a word carries for a group of
  language users.

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Stipulative Definitions

• Stipulative definitions - to introduce unusual or
  unfamiliar words, to coin new words, or to
  introduce a new meaning to a familiar word.
• Stipulative definitions come in two varieties,
  arbitrary and precising.
• In the arbitrary type people stipulate that, for
  their purposes, an invented word will henceforth
  carry a particular meaning.
• For example, Sigmund Freud invented three terms
  to stand for the fundamental energy systems of
  the psyche The id represents primal upsurging
  desires the ego means control by rationality
  and realism and the superego means the
  internalized social rules, manifested chiefly in
  the form of conscience.

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Stipulative Definitions II

• In the category of arbitrary stipulative
  definitions are also acronyms, or words formed
  from the initial letters of a phrase.
• We speak, for example, of NASA, National
  Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASCAR,
  National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing.
• Many words begin as acronyms, and if they become
  assimilated into the culture, the original words
  that made them up are lost.

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Stipulative Definitions III

• The second type of stipulative definition is a
  precising one whereby a person proposes to use an
  ordinary word in a special, limited, or precise
  sense.
• For example, a legislator may say, My bill
  proposes aid for the poor, and by poor I mean
  those with family incomes below 6,000 per year.

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Stipulative Definitions IV

• Since all stipulative definitions are
  forewarnings and statements of intent, we can
  never accuse them of being false they are, after
  all, simply proposals. But we can criticize them
  for being illegitimate. That is, if someone
  offers a definition that we cannot accept
  psychologically, a definition that tries to
  persuade us to accept a peculiar point of view,
  then it can be criticized as unacceptable.
• For example, Fork an instrument used chiefly
  for putting dead animals into the mouth. -
  Ambrose Bierce
• When I talk about the policy giving tax breaks to
  the middle class, I define middle class as
  ________. What does it mean to be in the middle
  class?

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Persuasive or rhetorical definitions

• Sometimes definitions are used for persuasive
  purposes and are charged with positive or
  negative emotions in such cases they are
  considered loaded. A loaded definition has an
  attitude it expresses a value judgment and is
  not just a neutral description of conventional
  meaning. Take the following examples of loaded
  definitions an intellectual is someone who
  knows everything except how to make money and
  immigrant is an unenlightened person who
  thinks one country is better than another.
  These definitions are funny, but should be
  avoided when we are seriously discussing issues.

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Example or OstensiveDefinitions

• Example definitions explain the meaning of a word
  by mentioning some instances of it. In terms of
  our discussion of extension, they explain a
  meaning by pointing out some of the members of
  the class. Once we know the range of things
  referred to by a term (assuming it is
  referential), then we have a clearer
  understanding of its meaning. For instance, an
  example definition of bird might include Robin,
  Oriole, Blue jay, and so forth.

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Example or Ostensive Definitions II

• Also covered by example definition are
  descriptions of the sort of experience that is
  involved. For example, we might explain the
  meaning of depressed as the feeling you get
  when youre alone after breaking up with someone
  youve been involved with for a long time. Its
  Saturday night, the telephone doesnt ring, no
  one knocks on the door, theres a party next
  door, and a blues song is playing on the radio.
  That is being depressed.
• We might define trusting as disclosing personal
  secrets, allowing oneself to be vulnerable.

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Example or Ostensive Definitions III

• Sometimes a description of the experience or a
  catalog of examples is not enough of an
  explanation, and we can only show the object,
  event, or characteristics to which a word
  applies. We have an ostensive definition.
• For instance, the best way to explain red is to
  hold up different red objects. To explain
  spicy we might have them taste a spicy food.
  Some things are first hand experiences, and no
  description of characteristics will convey the
  meaning adequately. A person blind from birth
  will never understand the word red except in
  the descriptive sense.

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Synonyms

• Synonyms constitute another type of definition,
  and here another word is offered that has
  approximately the same meaning as the first.
• For example, to define honesty we could list
  truthfulness, frankness or candor for humorous
  we could list funny, comical, or amusing. Of
  course, the synonym must be a word that is
  understood, otherwise the meaning of the original
  word will not be clarified. Thus the
  effectiveness of a synonym definition depends on
  the readers stock in trade the larger his or
  her vocabulary, the more effective the synonym is
  likely to be in explaining the meaning of a word.
  

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Some definition tips

• In forming sound definitions, whether
  stipulative, lexical, synonym, or example,
  certain standards must be met. These standards
  make the definition reliable, keep it honest.
• Some standards have already been discussed that
  stipulative definitions must be psychologically
  acceptable and that lexical definitions must
  reflect conventional usage. However, there are
  additional criteria for acceptable definitions,
  and they are usually listed as pitfalls to avoid.

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Circularity

• Definitions should not be circular. A circular
  definition usually repeats the defined word in
  the definition. To define cookbook as a book
  used to cook is not very informative. A
  definitions is also circular when it defines two
  words in terms of each other. For example, A
  cause is that which produces an effect and An
  effect is that which results from a cause.
  These definitions are just going around in
  circles.

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Definitions that are too broad or too narrow.

• Another trap to avoid is having definitions that
  are too broad or too narrow. If our definition
  is unduly broad it will cover too much, failing
  to rule out things that are extraneous. If it is
  too narrow it will cover too little, excluding
  things that should be included within the term.
• For example, if I think that behaving politely
  means not burping at the dinner table then my
  notion of what it means to behave politely might
  be too narrow. On the other hand, to define
  music simply as sound would qualify the noise
  of jackhammers, sirens, and traffic as different
  kinds of music.

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Metaphorical definitions

• Metaphorical definitions should be avoided. In
  poetic discourse metaphors and similes, images
  and symbols, are the life blood of the art, but
  in formulating definitions, where clarity and
  directness are critical, such language should be
  avoided. It is unilluminating to define a
  saint as a dead sinner, revised and edited,
  or happiness as a warm puppy. To those
  familiar with these terms, the coloring adds
  interest, but it will not help anyone who is
  ignorant of the principle meaning. Such
  definitions might even mislead people, especially
  those learning English as a second language.

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Loaded Definitions

• Sometimes definitions are used for persuasive
  purposes and are charged with positive or
  negative emotions in such cases they are
  considered loaded. A loaded definition has an
  attitude it expresses a value judgment and is
  not just a neutral description of conventional
  meaning. Take the following examples of loaded
  definitions an intellectual is someone who
  knows everything except how to make money and
  immigrant is an unenlightened person who
  thinks one country is better than another.
  These definitions are funny, but should be
  avoided when we are seriously discussing issues.

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Importance of Definitions

• Providing good definitions may seem a trivial
  matter, but we need to be conscientious about
  them because they may be the basis of important
  decisions.
• For instance, it is crucial to determine the
  meaning of person in the abortion controversy.
  If someone is arrested for sale or possession of
  drugs the definitions of narcotic and
  controlled substance are crucial.

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Vagueness

• Vague words or expressions lack clarity and
  distinctness, so that we dont know whether they
  apply in a given case. The limits of their
  application are fuzzy, and we are uncertain about
  what they include and exclude. Almost all words
  are vague to some extent, and in most cases this
  does not interfere with their meaning. Language
  is labeled vague only when it is unnecessarily
  imprecise, when the intension does not allow us
  to identify the extension. Then we criticize
  usage and vagueness becomes a charge.
• For example, suppose we ask a used car
  salesperson how much a car costs and we are told
  its a bargain, a very good deal, less expensive
  than we might think, priced to move, sure to save
  us money, and so forth. Because the car
  salesperson is not giving us a price, he or she
  is probably trying to make us think that that the
  car is cheaper than it really is the vagueness
  is deliberate and meant to trick us.

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Vagueness II

• On the other hand, the question How much do you
  love me? cannot be answered in numbers. Replies
  such as as much as you deserve or not wisely
  but too well are perfectly appropriate.
• If we want to measure how happy a person is, we
  are demanding what Aristotle called greater
  exactitude than the subject matter will allow.
• Vagueness is not always negative.
• You must not know too much, or be too precise or
  scientific about birds and trees and flowers and
  watercraft a certain free margin, and even
  vagueness perhaps ignorance, credulity helps
  your enjoyment of these things. Walt Whitman

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Vagueness III

• In some contexts, of course, it becomes extremely
  important to reduce the vagueness of words as
  much as possible. If food stamps are offered to
  the poor, defining who exactly is poor can make
  a significant difference in peoples lives.

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Ambiguity

• In ambiguity a word contains several meanings,
  and we are uncertain which one is meant. We are
  confused about the word, phrase, sentence, or
  passage because it can be understood in more than
  one sense.
• One traditional distinction that is made among
  types of ambiguity is between semantic and
  syntactic forms. Semantic ambiguity has to do
  with the multiple meanings of a word as it
  appears in a sentence, either once or twice. To
  take a couple of light examples, Our druggists
  dispense with accuracy Bikinis now sold for a
  ridiculous figure.

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Ambiguity II

• Semantic ambiguity can be more serious, though.
  The Second Amendment to the Constitution states,
  a well-regulated militia being necessary to the
  security of a free state, the right of the people
  to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
  Does this mean that only militia such as the
  National Guard are allowed to have arms, or that
  every citizen has the right to own a gun ( and
  all gun control laws are unconstitutional)?
  Serious debate has occurred as different people
  interpret the Second Amendment in different ways.
  

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Syntactic Ambiguity

• Syntactic ambiguity applies to a complex
  expression when it has more than one meaning
  because there is more than one way to understand
  its grammatical structure.
• We are going to discuss sex on TV.
• If you think are waitresses are rude, you should
  see our manager.

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Semantic Ambiguity and accent

• Under the broad category of semantic ambiguity
  the phenomenon of accent should be mentioned.
  Here ambiguity occurs because it is unclear which
  word in a sentence is being accented or
  emphasized.
• A defense lawyer once asked a coroner, How many
  autopsies have you performed on dead bodies? He
  replied, All of my autopsies were on dead
  bodies. The attorney wanted to know the number
  of autopsies that had been performed, and the
  coroner assumed that he was asking whether all of
  his autopsies had been done on corpses. The
  misunderstanding occurred because different parts
  of the question were stressed.

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Practice

• Read the following definitions and identify the
  mistake, whether circular, too broad, too narrow,
  metaphorical, or rhetorical/loaded.
• Torture is any act by which severe pain and
  suffering, whether physical or mental, is
  intentionally inflicted on a person for such
  purposes as obtaining from him or a third person
  information or a confession. U.N. Convention
  against Torture, 1984
• Too narrow. Torture is not always inflicted in
  order to obtain information or a confession.

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Practice II

• Read the following definitions and identify the
  mistake, whether circular, too broad, too narrow,
  metaphorical, or rhetorical/loaded.
• A lion is a feline.
• This definition is too broad because it would
  include tigers and panthers and so forth.

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Advertising

• Lets have a friendly contest. How many
  commercial messages does the average person see a
  day? How many do they see by the time they are
  25 years old?
• The typical person sees 250 commercial messages
  daily and more than two million of them by the
  time he or she is twenty-five years old.
• Studying advertising and the strategies used by
  advertisers helps us to become more critical,
  insightful, and selective consumers.
• When it comes to commercial ads, for the most
  part, skepticism is a virtue.

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Advertising II

• In broad terms, advertising uses promotional
  techniques to persuade people to purchase
  products or services.
• The American Marketing Associations definition
  is any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and
  promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an
  identified sponsor.

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What types of products are advertised?

• Toasters, lipstick, cologne, etc
• Candidates some ads try to convince us to vote
  for a certain candidate.
• Help other people
• Give up a bad habit
• Join the army
• Talk to your kids
• Eat at the dinner table

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Who develops ads

• Well trained psychologists.
• Creative artists
• Spends lots of money to learn our psychological
  weaknesses, our motivations, etc

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• College students usually say that advertising
  does not influence their decisions.
• However, studies show that ads can increase sales
  of certain products.
• Most Americans see ads as something thing they
  can easily tune in and out.
• Advertisers want us to believe that. They want
  to subtly influence us.

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• The majority of things we buy- toothpaste,
  toothbrushes, and so forth are pretty much the
  same. They share the same marketing techniques,
  manufacturing techniques, and use the same
  technology. The only difference may be how it is
  presented.

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Other types of media

• Can we trust the news?
• Moore and Parker book.
• How do news stations get their news? Press
  releases from government institutions and
  businesses, research is expensive.
• Is the media biased? How many people think so?
  List reasons why this claim is true. If you
  dont believe this claim is true, then why do
  some people think it is true?

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Credibility and the News Media

• In the mid twentieth century, there were
  thousands of media outlets. Since 2001, the
  Federal Communications Commission loosened the
  regulations regarding ownership of newspapers,
  radio stations and television stations. There
  were 50 independent companies by 1983. By late
  2004, the majority of all media companies in the
  United States were controlled by just five
  companies. In the United States, five huge
  conglomerates control the vast majority of media
  in the United States Time Warner, Disney, News
  Corp, Bertlesmann, and Viacom. G.E. is a close
  6th place. Together, they own about 90 of the
  media. What do you think are the pros and cons
  of a handful of corporations owning most of the
  main media outlets?

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Government management of the news

• Examples of government management of the news
• In 2007, FEMA held a press conference. However,
  no reporters were present. Instead, FEMA staff
  members sat in the audience and asked questions.
• In 2005, syndicated columnist Michael McManus was
  paid 10,000 by the Department of Health and
  Human services for writing about one of the
  governments Marriage Initiative programs. The
  title of his column happened to be entitled
  Ethics and Religion.
• How independent were the independent military
  analysts on some of the major news stations?
  http//www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20gen
  erals.html?_r2hporefsloginpagewantedall

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Government management of the news

• The US military has banned the American media of
  taking pictures of caskets returning from war
  since 1991. Some journalists ask what that has
  to do with national security. What do you think?
  Is it proper for the government to manage the
  news in this way?