"The definition of a term captures what we can think of as the essential features of the entities that are instances of the designated type. The essential features of a thing are those features without which the thing would not be the type of thing that it is. They are also what we can think of as the constant elements in the structure of the entities in question—those elements that all instances of the relevant universal must possess."
Example:
- Essential features of a triangle include being a plane figure and having three sides.
- Inessential features include the lengths of the lines making up the three sides.
**4."Avoid circularity in defining terms."**
**4."Avoid circularity in defining terms."**
For a definition to be informative, it should avoid circularity. A definition is circular if the term to be defined, or a near synonym of that term, occurs in the definition itself, as for example in the following:
- hydrogen = def. anything having the same atomic composition as hydrogen
Other examples are as follows (❌ indicates wrong example and ✅ indicates a right one):
- ❌ Large: The atrribute of something that is big.
- ✅ large: The attribute something has when it has a measurable quality that is above average.
- ❌ Fear: The state of being fearful. ---> When “fearful” is not seprately defined independantly of “fear”
- ✅ fear: an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger
**5."To ensure the intelligibility of definitions, use simpler terms than the term you are defining."**
**5."To ensure the intelligibility of definitions, use simpler terms than the term you are defining."**
