Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Lecture Notes Chapter 2

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Overview Functions of Language Meaning in Language Definitions

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Functions of Language Informative Function Expressive Function Directive Function –Persuasion

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Informative Function Language used to make claims Claims –Can be true –Can be false Examples –United States presidential elections are held every four years. –One out of ten Americans has herpes.

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Expressive Function Language used to vent or arouse emotional energy Emotional energy –Can overwhelm common sense –Can reinforce and enhance rational deliberation Examples –Mean people suck! –Question authority!

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Directive Function Language that influences the behavior of another person Persuasive language –Influences beliefs and motivations –Incorporates claims and arouses emotional energy Example: Hippocrates –Speaking generally, all parts of the body which have a function, if used in moderation and exercised in labors to which each is accustomed, become healthy and age slowly. But if unused and left idle, they come liable to disease, defective in growth, and age quickly.

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Meaning in Language Labels and patterns Conventions of language Communication breakdown

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Labels and Patterns Labels –Verbal handles –Arbitrary Examples –Please pass the butter. –Where is the restroom? Syntax –Patterns or ways of organizing words into sentences –Structural regularities Subject—verb —indirect object—object He made me a cup of coffee

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Conventions of Language A behavioral regularity that we maintain and follow in order to solve the problems of coordination The rules of the communication game that we agree upon in order to get things done together We agree upon –The meaning of words (definitions) –The order in which we use words (syntax)

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Communication Breakdown Language rules –Are arbitrary –Can and often do change –Can be flexible –Can be informal –Can be creative Departing from the rules without signaling our audience –Causes breakdowns in communication –Causes confusion

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Dimensions of meaning: Precision and Clarity –Ambiguity –Vagueness –Denotation –Connotation –Extension –Intension

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Definitions Ambiguity Vagueness Definitions –Dictionary definitions –Essential definitions –Stipulation –Abstract words –Necessary and sufficient conditions –Genus and differentia

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Ambiguity A term with more than one conventional meaning Examples (extensions of the term “bank”) –Bank – a noun any piled up mass, such as snow or clouds the slope of land adjoining a body of water the cushion of a billiard or pool table a business establishment authorized to receive and safeguard money, lend money at interest, etc. –Bank – a verb to strike a billiard shot off the cushion to tilt an aircraft in flight

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Vagueness A term is vague when we are not clear which definition of the term the writer intends us to understand Example: She left her things near the bank. –Did she leave them near the cushion of the billiard table? –Near the business establishment authorized to receive and safeguard money, lend money at interest, etc.? –Near the edge of the snow piled up near the wall? –Things is also vague. What did she leave?

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Dictionary Definitions A definition is an explanation of the meaning of a word or term. Dictionaries –Give word histories or etymologies –Give definitions of new words –Give the conventional definitions –Give examples and synonyms –Do not give unconventional uses of a word

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Essential Definitions: Dialogic Approach Step 1 –Formulate a definition Step 2 –Develop an example to test your definition Step 3 –Revise the original definition to make it more precise Step 4 –Repeat Steps 2 and 3

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Stipulative Definitions Where conventional usage and understanding are inadequate or unsuitable in some way, Definitions of words are stipulated –To establish a precise meaning for readers –To lay down the terms of an agreement about how a word is to be used and understood in the context of some discourse Example: a “full time employee” shall be defined as an “employee working 25 hours or more per week”

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Abstract Words Words that refer to ideas, concepts, thoughts, emotions, and concepts Concrete Watch Flag Can of tuna Abstract Time Patriotism Food

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Necessary and Sufficient Conditions rule things in rule other things out A necessary condition is a characteristic or set of characteristics required for membership in the word's extension. A sufficient condition is a characteristic or set of characteristics which is by itself adequate for membership in the word's extension.

Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 2 Genus and Differentia spoonutensil A small, shallow bowl with a handle used in eating or stirring watchmachine Portable or wearable device for telling time GenusDifferentiaTerm