Philosophy Class notes 9-8-14Ambiguous- words with double meaningsi.e. bank, fly, buffaloAmphiboly: the result of an ambiguous sentence or grammatical structureBill only eats cake- changing the emphasis changes the meaningMary had a little lamb - Could mean she only has a small serving of lamb- She had a small pet lamb- She used to have a lamb in the barn- She gave birth to a lamb1. Rewrite2. Keep the sentence as is, but add to it to remove ambiguityMary had a little lamb that died of natural causes and wasn’t eatenMary had a little lamb and is still aliveorMary had a little lamb and potatoes Ken let us down1) Ken set us back down on the ground2) Ken disappointed us1) Ken let us down by not completing his part of the project2) Ken let us down by dropping us 30 milesBarry Bonds was safe at home1) Barry Bonds was safe in his home during the storm2) Barry Bonds made it to home plate safely and scored a runVague: one word, one meaning, but has borderline cases – not dealing with relative I.e. bald, rich, big, skimpy, tan, good9-10-14Ambiguous examples:1. Blue 2. Gay3. Ginger4. Cool5. Mad6. Hot7. Salty8. Sharp – mentally quick witted/physically pointy9. Ugly- personality/looksVague examples:1. Fast2. Ugly  Beyonce – not (looks) Sarah Jessica Parker – controversial (looks) Joba the Hut – ugly (looks) Mother Theresa- not ugly (personality) Hitler – ugly (personality)3. Slow4. Modest5. Scary6. Smart 7. Late- one second/one hour?8. Chewy  Yogurt – not Peach skin – debatable  Laffy taffy – yes9. Athlete  Professional (paid) or basketball player Intermediate (unpaid) or racecar driver Un-athletic (does not do physical activity) or engineer9/12/14 - Univerisal generalizations: generalizations about none or all- Statistical generalizations: generalizations that are about some (between 1-99)- Exercise set 1.4 – p 321. Statistical2. Universal3. Statistical4. Statistical5. Universal6. Universal7. Universal8. Universal9. Universal10. UniversalDisputes:1. Genuine - Abby routes for the red sox- Zelda routes for the Yankees This is a genuine dispute concerning attitudes- Kathy thinks that Miami is south of Honolulu, Debby disagrees Geographic facts2. Mixture:- Hank says the movie is considered pornography because it is so racy and thinks it is offensive, Ingrid says it is a form of beauty and art and it is not offensive Opinion and genuine- Ostensive definition defines a term by pointing to an object to which the term applies- Explicit extensional definition: the entire collection of objects that constitutes the extension of the term - Denotative definition: a partial collection of the objects that constitute the extension of the term  Marsupial: kangaroo, koala, wallaby Not all marsupials but some of them- Explicit intensional definition: involves a phrase equivalent in meaning to the relevant term Bachelor = unmarried man- Lexical definitions: the dictionary definitions; a definition to report and meaning that the term already has; can be right or wrong Can be too broad or too narrow Can be both too broad and too narrow  Can become circular- when definitions include the word itself9-15-14- Stipulative definition: a new term is introduced to which some meaning is arbitrarily assigned New inventions Secrecy Save time, i.e. zeta (a billion trillions) To encourage or discourage emotional baggage- i.e. black hole- Precising: used to reduce vagueness, getting rid of a borderline area- Theoretical: attempts to formulate a theoretically adequate or scientifically useful description of the object to which the term applies- Persuasive: often relies on emotive language- trying to convince you of something- Operational definition: specific to an operation that is publically observable/reproducible; important to science; something we can see out in the world- Syntactic definitions: indicates their grammatical (syntactical) role in language (i.e. “or” p 67)9-17-14What do we mean when we mention a word? We are talking about a word.What do we mean when we use a word? We are referring to something (out in the world).‘Alcoholism’ has 10 letters. - MentioningAlcoholism is a serious problem in the US. –UseJohn blames his “alcoholism” on his coworkers. – Scare QuotesMary says, “John is an alcoholic.” –Normal Quoting 9-19-14John is popular – John as a person‘John’ is popular – talking about the nameBoston – no quotes – refers to the city‘Boston’ – single quotes – refers to the word“Boston” – double quotes – refers to ‘Boston’Arguments:- An argument: a series of declarative sentences, the truth of one of which (the conclusion) is taken to be supported by the truth of the others (the premises) - Deductive argument: in order to count as successful, the truth of the premises provides a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion – when successful, it is valid- Inductive argument: in order to count as successful, the truth of the premises provides reasons supporting the probable truth of the conclusion99% of OSU students are buckeye fansJane is an OSU student Successful∴Jane is a buckeye fan1% of OSU students are Michigan fansJane is an OSU student Not successful∴Jane is a Michigan Fan Only 1% of OSU students are not buckeye fansJane is an OSU student successful∴Jane is a buckeye