Introduction to Definition Arguments

DEFINITIONS,– a.k.a. ideas about what things are, what things mean, and how things should be classified -

change over time as the result of political, cultural, and economic forces.

Wilderness, 1964: should be left alone(main pressure = resource plundering)

Wilderness, 2015: needs to be actively preserved and “gardened”(main pressure = climate change)

Changing understandings & changing technologies can change how something is defined….

Lives in suburbs = perceived as whiteLives in city = perceived as black

…and things like social status (class, race, gender) can also affect how we define something.

SOMETHING IS ALWAYS AT STAKE IN DEFINITIONS.(i.e., someone always has something to win or lose.)

QUESTIONS THAT DRIVE ARGUMENTS OF DEFINITION

• What is an X? (genus)• Should this thing be classified as this (Y) or that

(Z)? (species)• Must X occur in order for Y? (conditions)• How should this thing be interpreted or

understood? (What does X mean?)• Does X deserve the status of Y? (membership in a

class)

DEFINITION

TYPES

• What is an X? Examples:What is a wetland?What is poverty capitalism?What is wilderness?What is love?What is a person?What is institutionalized racism?What is a terrorist?

GENUS

• Should this thing be classified as this (Y) or that (Z)?

Examples:Is Charlie Hebdo heroic or racist (or both)?Is pedophilia a disorder or a crime?Is this squishy area a wetland or a swamp?Is this scratch on the rental car ordinary wear and tear or damage?Are corporations people?

SPECIES

vandalism or art?

condiment or vegetable?

• Must X occur in order for Y?

Examples:Does brain death need to happen in order for a person to be really dead?Can athletes who are getting paid still be considered amateurs?Should assisting someone who wants to die be considered murder?Can racism exist in the absence of individual acts of racism?When does flirting become sexual harassment?

CONDITIONS

• How should this thing be interpreted or understood? (What does X mean?)

Examples:What do the recent acts of “public shaming” via social media mean?How should we think about the recent Department of Defense 1033 Program that has given old military gear to U.S. police departments?What is David Foster Wallace’s novel Infinite Jest really about?How should we understand Canada’s relation to the U.S.?

INTERPRETATION

• Does X deserve the status of Y?

Examples:What are the ten best movies of the 2000s?Is Barack Obama/George W. Bush the worst president ever (in terms of…)?Should Texas be its own country?

MEMBERSHIP IN A CLASS