ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITIONCh. 9

ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION What constitutes a small car? At what point is an electronically

manipulated image no longer a photograph? Who is an African American? What is a blood sport? What does left wing mean? Are Americans more patriotic or nationalistic?

ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION Conjecture: what happened? Definition: what do we call it?

If your car is missing from campus, is it….. Stolen? Borrowed?

We can’t go any further until meaning of terms are clarified.

ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION Conjecture: what happened? Definition: what do we call it?

What do we call those misplaced by Hurricane Katrina Refugees? Evacuees?

ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION Important because they give the power to say

what someone or something is (or is not). Adam named animals; he “defined” what each

animal is Points of contention

Why is one definition right or better than another?

ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION Most productive type of argument:

What is What is not

What is human intelligence? A capacity measurable by verbal and mathematical

reasoning tests The ability to perform specific practical tasks Competence in relating to people

ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION Definitions in civil, political, and social arenas

are constantly challenged and being reshaped. What constitutes a family? What is an American? What is the definition of marriage?

ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION Were the detainees at Abu Ghraib tortured?

YES, according to Amnesty International’s definition: “the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering by

state agents, or similar acts by private individuals for which the state bears responsibility through consent, acquiescence or inaction.”

NO, according to those who defined the actions as: “the use of traditionally unconventional methods of

interrogation”

DEFINITIONAL ARGUMENT—A SAMPLE You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper there an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so they would know when they found one. An American is English…or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God… And you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.”

--Peter Ferrara, “What is an American?”

ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION Usually can’t resolve important arguments of

definition by consulting dictionaries. Dictionaries reflect the way particular groups

of people used words at a specified time and place. Can mirror the prejudices of their makers

Samuel Johnson Oats: “a grain which in England is generally given to

horses, but in Scotland supports the people.”

KINDS OF CHARACTERIZING DEFINITIONS Formal Operational Definitions by Example

FORMAL DEFINITIONSDictionary definition

ClassificationKingdomClassOrderGenusSpecies

FORMAL DEFINITIONS Dictionary definition

Genus Is tobacco a drug or a crop? Should hate speech be a criminal offense? Are all hybrids really powered by two sources, or are

some of them just gussied-up versions of the regular gasoline car?

Species Is tobacco a harmless drug? A dangerously

addictive one? Something in between? Is using a racial epithet always an instance of hate

speech? Is the new Ford Escape Hybrid efficient enough to

count as a genuine hybrid?

Is the Chrysler Pacifica really a minivan?

http://www.chrysler.com/pacifica/

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS Object is defined by what it does or by the

conditions that create it. Sexual harassment is an unwanted and

unsolicited imposition. Must sexual imposition be both unwanted and

unsolicited to be considered harassment?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:Sexual+Harassment

DEFINITIONS BY EXAMPLE Way to define something by pointing to an

example. Is any pop artist today in a class with Chuck Berry, Elvis,

the Beatles, or Aretha Franklin? Who are the Albert Einsteins and Madame Curies of the

current generation? Does Washington, D.C., deserve the status of a state?

DEFINITIONS BY EXAMPLE Way to define something by pointing to an

example. Has limitations

Joyce’s Ulysses & Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover obscene

STIPULATIVE DEFINITION Appropriate when

No fixed or standard definition is available. Some arbitrary specification is necessary to fix the

meaning of a key term in an argument. Your audience will know what YOU mean by the term.

Native American Could mean any person with any Native blood “For the purpose of the present discussion, I mean by a Native

American any person who has at least one grandparent of pure Native American blood and is registered with a federally recognized Native American tribe.”

DEFINITION An argument will be most fruitful if the

participants first agree on what they are talking about.

One way to secure such an agreement is to define the topic.

DEFINITIONAL ARGUMENTS Formulating claims:

Claims of Definition: A person paid to do public service is not a volunteer.

A volunteer is… Torture has clearly been used by the U.S. military at

Guantanamo Bay. Torture is…

Napoleon Dynamite is one of the latest films to achieve cult status. A cult film is…

ARGUMENT OF DEFINITION X is / is not a Y

Define a term or concept (the Y term) by establishing criteria and defending them. A serious crime involves an act contrary to law that is

extremely damaging to the well-being of an individual or society.

Match the criteria you've established for the Y term against a controversial concept you are assessing (the X term). Cheating on one's income taxes is a serious crime.

ARGUMENT OF DEFINITION X is / is not a Y

Pay close attention to the reasonableness of your criteria.

Defend your criteria against counter-arguments.

ARGUMENT OF DEFINITION X is / is not a Y because . . . It possesses / does not possess features

A, B, C.

Napoleon Dynamite (X) meets all of the criteria to be considered a cult classic (Y).

ARGUMENT OF DEFINITION Choose a controversial or difficult issue of

definition. Your paper will be pointless if there is no

controversy involved in your argument of definition—some readers should disagree strongly with your point of view.