Deck 3: Logic and Language

Question 1

A word that has more than one meaning is said to be

A) obscure.
B) ambiguous.
C) vague.
D) figurative.

Answer 1

ambiguous.

Question 2

The set of things to which a word applies is called its

A) intension.
B) extension.
C) dimension.
D) definition.

Answer 2

extension.

Question 3

Which of the following is a type of intensional definition?

A) ostensive definition
B) enumerative definition
C) definition by subclass
D) definition by genus and difference

Answer 3

definition by genus and difference

Question 4

When introducing a new word into our language, it is most appropriate to use which kind of definition?

A) lexical
B) stipulative
C) theoretical
D) precising

Question 5

In a definition by genus and difference, the difference indicates

A) the general category to which members of the term's extension belong.
B) the attribute that distinguishes members of a given species from members of other species in the same genus.
C) why it makes a difference how the term is used.
D) the proper subclass of the definiens.

Question 6

The definition "Love is never having to say you're sorry" is

A) obscure.
B) ambiguous.
C) figurative.
D) circular.

Question 7

"The 'death penalty' is just state-sanctioned murder" is a

A) theoretical definition.
B) precising definition.
C) persuasive definition.
D) stipulative definition.

Question 8

The information that a sentence conveys is its

A) emotive force.
B) extension.
C) cognitive meaning.
D) lexical definition.

Question 9

A word is vague when

A) it is not a very common word.
B) it has more than one meaning.
C) it is imprecise or has "borderline cases."
D) it is not definable enumeratively.

Question 10

An ostensive definition is one that specifies the meaning of a term by

A) pointing out objects in the term's extension.
B) identifying the properties a thing must have in order to be included in the term's extension.
C) naming the members of the term's extension individually.
D) naming the members of the term's extension in groups.

Question 11

In "A puppy is a young dog," the word "puppy" is the

A) definiendum.
B) differentia.
C) definiens.
D) definition.

Question 12

"'Furniture' means dressers, tables, beds, desks, and the like" is a

A) stipulative definition.
B) definition by genus and difference.
C) definition by subclass.
D) lexical definition.

Question 13

Which of the following most accurately identifies the relationship between the genus and the species?

A) The species is a proper subclass of the genus.
B) The genus is a proper subclass of the species.
C) The species is a subclass of the genus.
D) The genus is a subclass of the species.

Question 14

A definition is too wide when the

A) definiens fails to apply to some objects in the extension of the definiendum.
B) definiendum is extensionally equivalent to its intension.
C) definiens is extensionally equivalent to its intension.
D) definiens applies to objects outside the extension of the definiendum.

Question 15

When two or more people seem to disagree but an ambiguous word (or phrase) hides the fact that they actually agree, they are said to have

A) a failure to communicate.
B) a merely verbal dispute.
C) an equivocation.
D) a substantial dispute.

Question 16

Two different statements may express the same proposition.

Question 17

The cognitive meaning of a statement is the element of the statement that elicits emotions.

Question 18

A definition is obscure when it is unclear because it doesn't convey the literal meaning of the concept, but only an analogy we have to interpret.

Question 19

A word is vague to the extent that it has "borderline cases" in which there is no precise way to determine whether the word applies.

Question 20

The extension of a term is those properties something must have in order for the term to apply to it.

Question 21

A lexical definition reports the conventional or established (intensional) meaning of a term.

Question 22

When I define a word by pointing to the objects the word applies to (e.g., I point at Fido and say "Dog"), I am giving an ostensive definition.

Question 23

All terms can be defined extensionally.

Question 24

A definition is too narrow if the definiens fails to apply to some objects in the extension of the definiendum.

Question 25

The problem of equivocation occurs when a word (or phrase) is used with more than one meaning in an argument but the validity of the argument depends on the word's being used with the same meaning throughout.

Question 26

A persuasive definition is a definition that seems to make sense to most people.

Question 27

The statements "Joe loves Mary" and "Mary is loved by Joe" express the same proposition.

Question 28

A single statement may express more than one proposition.

Question 29

A statement has emotive force when it conveys information.

Question 30

A word is ambiguous if it has more than one meaning.

Question 31

"Running" is a term.

Question 32

A term's intension is the set of things to which the term applies.

Question 33

A stipulative definition is a type of extensional definition.

Question 34

Ostensive definitions are a type of extensional definition.

Question 35

The class of attorneys is a proper subclass of the class of lawyers.

Question 36

A definition is too wide (too broad) if the definiens applies to objects outside the extension of the definiendum.

Question 37

A merely verbal dispute occurs when two or more people express in words different views on a subject (e.g., one avows theism and the other agnosticism), but do not behave differently (e.g., both go to the same church).

Question 38

The following argument involves the use of emotionally loaded language. Write a well-crafted version of the argument, replacing the emotionally loaded verbiage with more neutral language.
The civil laws of the United States protect only criminals, not law-abiding citizens. A major reform of these laws is called for to restore order to this great country of ours.

Question 39

The following argument involves the use of emotionally loaded language. Write a well-crafted version of the argument, replacing the emotionally loaded verbiage with more neutral language.
The death penalty is a farce. After some vicious killer is convicted and sentenced to die, his case is automatically appealed. Appeal follows appeal, dragging on for decades. Usually these are subsidized by the very community that has been wronged in the form of supplying free lawyers or providing the convicted assassin time and resources to learn the legal loopholes that will prevent his execution.

Question 40

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: Honesty is the habitual absence of the intent to deceive.

Question 41

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A chair is a piece of furniture that is used for sitting.

Question 42

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: An education is what you have left after you've forgotten everything you learned.

Question 43

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A teacher is a person who gives instruction to children.

Question 44

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A boat is something that keeps you afloat in water.

Question 45

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. (Oscar Wilde)

Question 46

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A chair is a moveable seat with a back and four legs.

Question 47

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into.

Question 48

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A liberal is a man who won't take his own side in an argument. (Robert Frost)

Question 49

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A bachelor is a person not a woman who has never been married.

Question 50

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: To explain an event means to provide a causal explanation identifying causes.

Question 51

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A computer is a machine that makes computations at great speeds.

Question 52

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A horse is an animal that can be used for riding or pulling carts.

Question 53

Write a well-crafted version of the following argument, identifying any equivocations or persuasive definitions:
People should have the liberty to do whatever they want with the things they have. It is wrong for society or governments to interfere with this personal autonomy. Now, parents have their children, and so it is wrong for others to interfere with parents treating their children however they want to.

Question 54

Write a well-crafted version of the following argument, identifying any equivocations or persuasive definitions:
Although communism is a bad word in this country, that is just because people don't understand it. "Communism" means a social and economic system in which people care for one another-in which the strong and fortunate help the weak and disadvantaged. Accordingly, communism is a good thing, and those opposed to it must simply misunderstand its nature.

Question 55

If a persuasive definition is employed in the following dialog, explain its weakness in terms of the six criteria for definitions; if it is instead a merely verbal dispute, identify the word or phrase that has a double meaning, and provide a definition for both meanings.
Smith: I just found out that Walker is a vegetarian. She won't eat any red meat.
Jones: No, she's not. I saw her eat a fish sandwich just yesterday!

Question 56

If a persuasive definition is employed in the following dialog, explain its weakness in terms of the six criteria for definitions; if it is instead a merely verbal dispute, identify the word or phrase that has a double meaning, and provide a definition for both meanings.
Sally: Ugh. That concert was awful!
Joe: How can you say that?! I thought it was great!
Sally: Are you kidding? My ears are ringing so loud I can hardly hear anything else!
Joe: Yeah! Exactly! Wasn't it great?

Question 57

If a persuasive definition is employed in the following dialog, explain its weakness in terms of the six criteria for definitions; if it is instead a merely verbal dispute, identify the word or phrase that has a double meaning, and provide a definition for both meanings.
Chris: Do you think men and women should have equal rights?
Sue: Yes. Why do you ask?
Chris: Well, someone had told me you were not a feminist, but I'm glad to find out you are.
Sue: But I'm not a feminist. "Feminist" just means a man-hater who wants women to rule the world.

Question 58

The following argument involves the use of emotionally loaded language. Write a well-crafted version of the argument, replacing the emotionally loaded verbiage with more neutral language.
Members of Congress pretend to be hard workers who look after the welfare of the country. But they are found at their "clubs"' playing golf and tennis, or being lobbied in luxury at some sporting event. We should turn them all out and start with a new group.

Question 59

The following argument involves the use of emotionally loaded language. Write a well-crafted version of the argument, replacing the emotionally loaded verbiage with more neutral language.
Is it wrong to conduct medical research on animals? Is it wrong to trap an innocent creature, one whose only crime is availability and no representation, to confine it in dreadful isolation, in an inhumanely small space whose environmental conditions are foreign, to force feed it on the cheapest diet possible, and, in the interim, to perform ungodly acts upon it causing horrible pain?

Question 60

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A confined aquifer is an aquifer that is confined between two aquitards. (Freeze and Cherry, Groundwater)

Question 61

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: Love is never having to say you're sorry.

Question 62

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: The meaning of a word is what is explained by the explanation of the meaning. (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations)

Question 63

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A counterfactual conditional is a conditional that expresses a counterfactual proposition.

Question 64

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: Noise is any unwanted noise.

Question 65

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: An alcoholic is someone who is always drunk.

Question 66

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A widower is a male widow.

Question 67

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: Sorrow is tranquility remembered in emotion. (Dorothy Parker)

Question 68

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who has never learned to walk. (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

Question 69

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: Ethics is the study of what makes behavior ethical or not.

Question 70

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: A square is a closed-plane figure whose sides are all equal.

Question 71

Using the six definitional criteria, evaluate the following: An optimist is someone who never sees the bad side of things.

Question 72

Write a well-crafted version of the following argument, identifying any equivocations or persuasive definitions:
Our elected officials are all politicians, and therefore crooks. A politician is, by definition, someone who exploits as many small people as possible in grasping power. Anyone who does that is a crook. But in order to get elected these days, one must successfully play the political game; that is, one must be a politician.

Question 73

Write a well-crafted version of the following argument, identifying any equivocations or persuasive definitions:
Every action is the result of either physical forces or mental forces, or both. But physical forces are predetermined by the physical state of the world at a given moment and the laws of physics. If we knew enough about the state of things and physics, we should be able to predict future physical action. Similarly, mental forces are predetermined by the mental state of the universe at a given moment and the laws of psychology. If we knew enough about the mental states of minds, and enough psychology, we would be able to predict future mental force. All future forces are thus predictable, and thus so
is all future action. Since predictability is just what one means by predestination, it follows that the future is predestined.

Question 74

Write a well-crafted version of the following argument, identifying any equivocations or persuasive definitions:
Reporters are snakes. They will lie, steal, and cheat to get information, and whoever will do that is a snake. Thus it is surprising that most courts of law include a court reporter as part of the court's personnel. To have a snake as a hired part of the court proceedings clearly undermines the pursuit of justice. Consequently, courts should start doing without court reporters.

Question 75

If a persuasive definition is employed in the following dialog, explain its weakness in terms of the six criteria for definitions; if it is instead a merely verbal dispute, identify the word or phrase that has a double meaning, and provide a definition for both meanings.
Johnson: I support the death penalty.
Smith: I'm opposed to the death penalty because it's just state-sanctioned murder.

Question 76

If a persuasive definition is employed in the following dialog, explain its weakness in terms of the six criteria for definitions; if it is instead a merely verbal dispute, identify the word or phrase that has a double meaning, and provide a definition for both meanings.
Bob: Sammy Sosa was a better athlete than Tiger Woods. Sosa could beat Woods in a race any day!
Sue: No way! Woods is the better athlete. He hits a ball farther than Sosa ever could!