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Philosophical Analysis (Philo 1) - verbal means of expressing what we know
Unit I: Analysis of Concepts
Module 1: Words and Concepts
Word
- made up of LETTERS
- simplest unit of communication within the
natural language
- indispensable means of communication
- can be used as a sign of a concept
Without words, concepts cannot be formed;
without concepts, various types of knowledge
claims cannot be asserted; without knowledge
claims, arguments cannot be composed.
Concept
- made up of IDEAS
- is not the same as a word
- cannot be made of letters, otherwise you
would be identifying the word with the
concept it represents
- building blocks of our knowledge
The ability to form concepts is an indispensable
and natural part of us, a part of being human.
Without this ability, knowledge and human life
will be impossible.
How are concepts formed?
According to John Locke (1632-1704), all things
that exist in this world are particulars.
Particulars
- specific/individual distinct part
General terms
- were invented because it is impossible for
every particular to have a proper name.
- process: ABSTRACTION
- group of particulars comprise a general term
Example: You have a handful of sand and the
individual sands show a common
characteristic of having a white-ish color
(called as 'white sand')
Simple and Common Terms
Term
- when a word/group of words is used to
express a concept
through concepts
Complex terms
- made up of several words
Concepts
- native to our intellect
- means for acquiring knowledge/building
block of our knowledge but can hardly be
imagined to subsist (exist) except in our minds.
Examples:
• Cat - word used to express a concept
• The King of France - a group of words
used to express a concept
• Cat and the King of France - called
"terms"
The present king of France, the author of
Waverly and The morning star
- complex terms that represent a single
concept
- has the logical form "The so and so"
according to Bertrand Russel (1872-1970).
Module 2: Extension and Intension of Objects
Extension
- MEMBERS of the domain of the concept
Example: bat - denotes all the individual
animals regardless of size, shapes.
But if we only determine the extension, we will
not know the nature of all bats.
Intension
- trait/set of traits, characteristic, or the
functions that are shared by the members &
differentiate them from other groups
- nature of the concept
- single trait or function that is held in common
- set of traits that are unevenly distributed to
the members of the extension
Example:
Bats- only the mammals capable of sustained
flight like a bird, however, unlike birds, bats can
fly low speed with extreme maneuverability
Essential property
- when the intension of a concept becomes
very precise and clearly defined
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- means that the possession of a single trait is
the necessary and sufficient condition to
qualify one to be a member of the said
extension
Example:
Mammal - mammary glands (common to all
mammals)
The essentialist in philosophy believes that for a
concept to be meaningful, the intension of a
concept should be limited to an essential
property only.
Essentialism
- if there is no essential property held in
common by all the members, the concept
cannot be meaningful
- a very old doctrine in philosophy of language
that is hardly questioned until Wittgenstein
came into the picture.
Games and Family Resemblance
Wittgenstein (in his book Philosophical
Investigations) challenged the essentialist view
that for a general term to be meaningful, there
must be an essential property held in common
by the members. He cites his famous example
of games.
He wants us to consider numerous games
(board-games, ball games, card games,
Olympic games, etc.) and then he asks, "What
single trait/characteristic is common to all
these games?"
Is it winning/losing or competition among
players?
Is there always amusement or enjoyment
among players?
We should not look for a common trait for them
to be called "games."
He says that not all of these games share a
common trait, but there are similarities,
relationships, and a whole series of them at
that.
When we start looking and seeing, we do not
find an essential property held in common by
all the activities we call "games." what we
discover, according to Wittgenstein is
... a complicated network of similarities
overlapping ang crisscrossing; sometimes
overall similarities, sometimes similarities of
detail.
Wittgenstein could not find a single essence to
characterize all games. What he discovered is
a multifarious relationship and called it Family
Resemblance.
Family Resemblance
The intension of the word "games" forms a
family of traits, characteristics, and functions.
We should not assume that a general term will
refer to a group of objects/activities or there
must be an essential property held in common
by them.
If we look and see, we will discover that these
concepts are regulated and made stable only
by a family resemblance of traits and
characteristics, and not by a single essential
property.
TL; DR:
- concepts are analyzed in terms of its
extension and intension
- extension of any concepts consist of the
members
- intension of the concepts consist of either:
• essential traits that all members must
possess
• family resemblance of traits and
characteristics that need not be
distributed evenly to all the members
Module 3: Using the Same Language
The Meaning of a Word
- philosophers agree that a word takes on a
meaning through the way in which people
who belong to the same verbal community
use it either orally or in written form
- according to Wittgenstein, for a large number
of cases (though not for all), the meaning of
the word is its use in the language
- all of the ways in which words are used are
meaningful (actual uses of words by real
people in actual linguistic contexts)
- Wittgenstein frowns on artificial uses of
language, which is always done by
philosophers
Example of terms that philosophers use but
have no form of life: sense data, substance,
ideas, absolute)
The language games are unplayable by real
people in real-life situations. Thus, if a language
game is unplayable in the sense above, the
language game has "no form of life."
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How then do you determine the meaning of a
word?
- identify how the word is used in a particular
language game
- to share meanings or to hold the meaning of
a word in common is to share a language-
game
- to share a language-game is to share a form
of life
- Wittgenstein emphasized that the same
combination of letters may have different uses,
and hence, different meanings in numerous
language games belonging to a natural
language like English, French, or Filipino
"bat"
- in one language game, it is a rodent
- in another, it refers to an instrument in a game
called baseball
"cold"
- weather
- disposition of a loved one
"difficult"
- description of an exam
- predisposition of a person
Ambiguous and Vague
Word
- (according to lexicographers) have a history
- comes to being when it is used for the first
time
- when it gains currency, the same use of the
word becomes integrated in numerous
language games (conventional or standard
use of a term)
Conventional, because in numerous language
games, the words are used in more or less the
same way. However, it may happen that a
word with a conventional use is modified and
used uniquely in a language game
Example: conventional use of the word Bading
about 10 years ago is a nickname. In the
language game of being homosexual, it is
synonymous with being gay.
Ambiguity
- in some cases, a word may acquire many
different uses in different language-games,
thus it becomes ambiguous.
Bertrand Russell used the words atom and
molecule in Physics uniquely in his language
game — atomic prosition and molecular
proposition (ambiguous)
In our national language, the term loob and
hiya have so many linguistic uses that Filipino
philosophers thought that deciphering the
nuances of the various uses will reveal a unique
Filipino philosophy.
Vagueness
- the terms some and many are used so loosely
in many language games that it becomes
vague. Moreover, in the end the term may
even be discarded through disuse.
Useless Controversies
- many controversies in everyday life turn out to
be pointless
- people utter the same word but are using it in
different ways and they do not inform each
other about the use of the word; this is
particularly important when the word is used
uniquely by both parties. If they only informed
each other about their use of the word, there
would realize that there was no disagreement
to begin with
Cardinal Rule
- "you must never take part in any discussion or
verbal dispute in any subject matter unless you
are sure that the both of you are using the
same word in the same way"
- best way to avoid useless controversy and
even misunderstanding
Example: In debates/discussions, we should first
ask our opponent about the intension and
extension of the term so that you would know if
you are using words the same way or not.
Module 4: Classification of Concept
Types of Concepts
- there are seven categories that are readily
available:
1. Empirical 5. Metaphysical
2. Analytic 6. Dispositional
3. Evaluative 7. Theoretical
4. Fictitious
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Empirical Concept
- if the members of the extension of a concept
can be observed in the world, then the
concept is empirical
- tangible and visible in the unaided senses
- in addition, the characteristics, functions, and
traits are also observable in the same way —
tangible and visible
Example: chairs and tables
Theoretical Concept
- cannot readily be observed to exist in space
and time by the unaided senses.
- such entities are only observable only through
the use of very powerful sensory extending
devices like the electron microscope
- the tentative posit of their existence is
necessary for a scientific theory to be
functional and for it to generate research
Example: putative make up of matter into
atom and its constituent particles
Two types of sensory extending devices:
- observing the macro universe: radio
telescope for observing galaxies said to be 40
million light years away from Earth
- observing the micro universe: microscope or
electron microscope for observing
microorganisms (germs and viruses) and the
world of electron and neutrinos
- middle universe: our world, observable
through the unaided senses; the empirical
world
Dispositional Concept
- hybrid concepts that come from the sciences
- do not designate a directly observable trait or
characteristic that members must have
- exhibit this observable trait only if certain
operations are performed
Examples: elastic, magnetic, temperature, etc.
Analytic Concept
- also called abstract concepts
- entities which cannot be found in the world -
neither tangible nor visible like tables and
chairs
- conceptual entities and as such, creations of
our minds
- unobservable concepts
- approximations, pedagogical devices to help
us understand the extension of an abstract
concept
- concepts that only subsist in our minds
Examples:
• concept of number 1, 2, 3, 4, until infinity
• concept of circle: intension of the
concept circle is very precise and
clearly delineated, but they are not
observable at all; we cannot observe
infinite points equidistant from a center.
Thus, all circles that we draw are not
members of the extension of a circle
Evaluative Concept
- concept that has generated so much
controversy for so long in philosophy
- our judgements of the worth or value of a
person, act, behavior, event, place, etc.
- cover a whole range of concepts
Examples:
- moral, aesthetic, religious
• Moral: good or bad right or wrong moral
or immoral
• Aesthetic: beauty and ugliness
• Religious: heaven and hell
• Legal: guilty or not guilty
Fictitious Concepts
- the intension of fictitious concepts is also
clearly delineated
- the members of the extension are purely
imaginary
- not bad per se
- purport to be empirical while in fact, they are
not
Examples:
• Mermaids and unicorns
• Ghost, tikbalang, nuno sa punso,
manananggal (examples of fictitious
objects pretending to be empirical)
Metaphysical Concepts
- assumed the center stage in many
philosophical systems
Examples:
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• Concept of substance like God, mind,
and matter
The intension of the object mind is that it
is an entity that is fundamental, it is
immaterial, has no weight, no mass, and
cannot be located in space. It does not
exist in space yet it is believed to exist in
time, and so it cannot be destroyed
unless destroyed by God. It is believed
that the mind interacts with the body.
• Absolute - characterized as a universal
mind and as such, it is composed of the
totality of all minds, past, present and to
come, together with all their ideas, and
so we are all part of one reality — the
absolute.
Intra-Inter Subjectivity Tests
- quick and reliable method for determining
types of concept
- tests used in Epistemology and in all the
sciences
Intra-subjectivity: something is
tangible/observable (empirical) in my own
perspective/experience
Inter-subjectivity: that thing is also
tangible/observable for other people (not just
me)
Example:
Fictitious concepts
• Nuno sa punso - if someone saw the
nuno, it passes the intra-subjectivity test,
and when the person who saw it calls
another person and it also appears
when the other person wants to see it, it
passes both the intra and inter-
subjectivity tests
Theoretical Concepts
• Observing microbes/black holes - uses
sensory extending devices. When it is
observed by a single person, and other
scientists come to a consensus that the
concept is true, they come to a
consensus, and it passes both the intra
and inter-subjectivity consensus
Module 5: Ambiguous and Vague Terms
Ambiguous Terms
Ambiguity
- a matter of degree
- the more uses a term acquires, the more
ambiguous it becomes
- when a term has acquired too many uses
that it becomes very difficult to determine the
proper language game in which the term is
used, then the term has become too
ambiguous
Example: "good"
- a central concept in moral philosophy
- heavily burdened with a long history of
contradictory uses
- many philosophers will use the term differently
depending on the language game they are
playing
• Hedonist: "good" = bodily pleasure; any
action that will promote pleasure
• Humanist: "good" = development of all
your human potentials
• Utilitarian: "good" = any action that
promotes the greatest happiness for the
greatest number Logical positivist:
"good" = used in expressing your
approval of an act
• Kantian: "good" = action done in
accordance with your duty
• Ordinary contexts: good meal, good
dog, good book, good man, good day,
good luck, etc.
Vague Terms
Vagueness
- something went wrong with the intension of
the concept
- the set of traits or characteristics that
members must have to be included in the
extension is not sufficient to determine what to
include and to exclude
- a matter of degree
Examples:
• "some" - intension in Symbolic Logic: "at
least one but not all"
How many then is some?
“Some politicians are corrupt" "Some
Christians are honest"
How many Christians are honest? At least
one but not all?
• "few," "many," "almost all" - use of these
terms leave us guessing how many items
are being talked about
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When a term is vague, the antidote is to
CLARIFY the intension of a concept to make it
USABLE for including members and excluding
non-members.
If a term cannot do this, then the term is too
vague.
Examples: Obscenity and pornography
• Nude model in a magazine -
pornography
• Nude painting of the same model - art
Most of the difficulty and confusion that
emanates from the use of terms can be traced
to either ambiguity or vagueness
- result to misunderstanding and useless
controversies
Ambiguous - a term that through its history of
usage, has acquired numerous uses and each
of this use has mutually exclusive intensions
Vague - when the intension of the concept
becomes too loose and unclear that it
becomes difficult to identify the members
Linguistic Confusion - happens when a speaker
uses a term in one way, while the other takes it
in a different way - both are not aware of the
shift in uses
- antidote: apply the Cardinal Rule
Fallacy of Equivocation
- using a term in one way and later using it
again in another in the same line of reasoning
Examples: Using the word "theory" as a
scientific theory, then using it later to refer to a
moral theory without warning and
equivocation
Quotation from Jean-Paul Sartre
"Consciousness is a being such that in its being,
its being is in question insofar as this being
implies a being other than itself."
Definition
- Antidote to either an ambiguous or a vague
concept: DEFINE them
- avoids linguistic confusion not only in our
writing but also in our thinking as well
- purpose: provide information about the
correct use of a term
Module 6: On Definitions
Definition by Synonym
- defining an unfamiliar term by using a familiar
term
- but looking for a synonym is just a preparation
for composing a good definition
- most rudimentary type of definition
- an error in definition called circular definitions
(defining a term by using the same term or by
its synonym)
Remember, anyone who requests for a
definition of a term doesn't know its meaning or
how to use it.
Example: defining the term amphibian by using
its synonym - DIFFICULT
Ostensive Definition
- the use of a word can easily be specified by
giving examples of the members of the
extension, either verbally or by a pointing
gesture
- giving examples of the extension of a term
would satisfy the curiosity of a person who does
not know the meaning of a term
- a concept learned through ostensive
definition is INCOMPLETE, since the use of the
term will only be limited to the
examples/extensions of the term given
Example: defining the term amphibian by
giving its examples, like frogs and turtles
- incomplete, because the meaning of the
term amphibian will be narrowly limited to frogs
and turtles, and the rest of the animals will not
be amphibian, including those who are. We
can discriminate frogs and turtles from the rest
of the animal kingdom, but we cannot
generalize the use of the term to other objects
that truly belong to the extension of the
concept amphibian. Furthermore, the
extension of most concepts cannot be pointed
to, e.g. Members of the extension of analytic,
fictitious, metaphysical, dispositional, and
theoretical concepts cannot be pointed to
Intension and Extension
- to have complete understanding of the
meaning of a concept, we should state its
intension without vagueness and give some
examples of the extension
- to have full understanding and control of the
use of a term, we must be able to state in
simple, clear, and precise language the
intension of a concept to avoid vagueness
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- next, we must offer typical examples of the
members of the extension in order to complete
the understanding of a term. In this way, it
facilitates the learning of a concept through
the psychological process of discrimination
and generalization. Whatever else definition
may include, this is the bottom line
Examples: amphibian
• intension: animals that can live in both
land and water
• extension: (we can now generalize)
crocodiles, salamanders, anaconda,
congo eel, moccasin, etc.
How do we define definition?
"A definition is a linguistic device that provides
an explanation or demonstration about the
use of a term. The use of a term is highlighted in
terms of its intension and extension in the
context of a language game. All definition
must share this common feature. A definition is
complete if you are provided with a clear
statement of the intension and some typical
members of the extension."
Reportive Definition
- provide information about how a term is
being used in the same way in numerous
language games
- reports about standard use or conventional
use of the term
- the conventional use consists of how the term
is used by actual people in numerous real-life
situations
- ensures that your language game has a form
of life
- synonymous with lexical definition in the
literature of logic
Verbal definition is synonymous to the intension
of the concept.
Did you know? College dictionaries are full of
reportive definitions, yet reportive definitions
are often incomplete. Terms in this type of
dictionary are only defined ostensibly or by
synonyms. Some are only providing the
intensions without providing samples of the
extension.
Stipulative Definition
- proposes to use a term in a very unique way
in a language game.
- departs from conventional use
- those who want to play the language game
must abide by the proposal
- for specialized purposes, we can circumscribe
the use of a term
- when we use a term in a specialized way, we
should warn our readers beforehand
- used in introducing technical terms
Examples:
• defining terms like simple object, ideas,
sense data, priori, mind, etc. (these
cannot be understood by an appeal to
reportive definition. We need to
investigate the technical use in the
context of the language game played
by the philosopher)
• introducing scientific terms
However, there are cases where terms defined
through stipulative definition are adopted by
many language games and as a
consequence, acquire an ordinary use e.g.
DNA, RNA, introvert, extrovert, etc.
Operational definition
- invented by P. W. Bridgman
- advocated that all scientific concepts should
be defined in terms of performable definitions
- technique of anchoring theoretical terms as
well as dispositional terms on the plane of
observation
- the operation that we have to perform is the
intension of the concept (the necessary and
sufficient condition for membership in the
extension of a concept)
- it does not cease to be an intension just
because the trait or set of traits are observable
only by performing some operations
- if, after performing the operational definition,
the expected observation of the trait or
characteristic did not occur, then it is not a
member of the extension of the concept.
Two types of operations:
1. Instrumental operations performed by
various devices for observation and
measurement like microscope and telescope
2. Paper and pencil operations, verbal
operations, and thought experiments
Dispositional concepts like magnetic, soluble
temperature, electric charge, etc. do not
exhibit directly observable characteristics of
their intensions, and certain operations must
first be performed. Thus, these dispositional
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terms are not empirical since their intensions
and extensions are not directly observable.
Operational definition is used to define these
terms.
Examples:
- provides typical examples of the extension of
the definiendum
- most neglected aspect of all types of
definition found in the literature of logic and
philosophy of language

- operational definition of soluble - emphasized in analytic definition

Sugar is soluble in water if and only you

actually perform the following applications:
you put sugar in the water and you observe
sugar to dissolve

- operational definition of IQ

The operational definition of IQ consists in

taking a paper and pencil test like the Binet IQ
Test. The formula used is IQ = MA/CAx100 (MA-
mental age; CA-chronological age).

Module 7: Analytic Definition

Analytic definition

- practical technique of defining a concept

- focused on the statement of the intension

without vagueness and the offering of typical
examples of the extension

Unlike the traditional version of logical

definition with two categories (definiendum
and definience), Acuña's proposal is to have
three categories (definiendum, definience,
and denotata)

Definiendum
Common Errors in Definition
- the term to be defined
- producing a too broad or too narrow
Example: mammal statement of the definiens

Definiens Rules in Composing a Definition

- provides the intension or the defining property
of the definiendum
Example: defining property of mammals
- two parts: genus and differentia
1. A sound definition states a trait or set of traits,
characteristics, or functions that a member
must possess. The trait need not be an
essential trait. The concept of family
resemblance will do.

- genus is the wider concept of which the
definiendum is a member
- concepts where its members are also
concepts, genus is the wider concept and
member concepts are species
Differentia
- states the trait/set of traits, characteristics, or
functions that distinguishes the definiendum
from other species in the genus
2. Definitions must not be circular.
3. A sound definition must not be stated in the
negative when it is stated in the alternative.
4. A sound definition should not use figurative,
obscure, metaphorical language.
5. Avoid defining by synonym or by ostensive
definitions. These are incomplete as well as
misleading concepts.

Denotata
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