Disputes and Verbal Disputes

Denotation (Extension)

The collection of all the objects to which a term may correctly be

applied.
The extension of a term (its membership) is determined by its
intension.
The extensional meaning (also called the denotative mean- ing) of a
general term is the collection of the objects that constitutes the
extension (or denotation) of the term.

Connotation (intension)

The attributes shared by all and only the objects in the class that a
given term denotes; the connotation of the term.
The extension of a term (its membership) is determined by its
intension.
Criterion for deciding

Denotative definition

Employs techniques that identify the extension of the term being

defined.
The most obvious way to explain the extension of a term is to identify
the objects denoted by it. This is one very effective technique, but it
has serious limitations.
Obvious Limitation: Partial enumeration of a class leaves the meaning
of the general term very uncertain.
o Solutions:
Naming groups of members of the class as examples
Ostensive Definitions or Demonstrative Definitions
A kind of denotative definition in which the objects
denoted by the term being defined are referred to by
means of pointing, or with some other gesture;
sometimes called a demonstrative definition.
Quasi-ostensive definitionA variety of denotative
definition that relies upon gesture, in conjunction
with a descriptive phrase.

Intension and Intensional Definitions

The Subjective in- tension of a word for a speaker is the set of all
 the attributes the speaker believes to be possessed by objects denoted
by that word. This set varies from individual to individual, and even
from time to time for the same individual, and thus can- not serve the
purposes of definition.
The Objective intension of a word is the total set of characteristics
shared by all the objects in the words ex- tension.
Conventional intension. The commonly accepted intension of a
term; the criteria generally agreed upon for deciding, with respect to
any object, whether it is part of the extension of that term.
Synonymous definition. A kind of connotative definition in which a
word, phrase or symbol is defined in terms of another word, phrase or
symbol that has the same meaning and is already understood.
Operational definition. A kind of connotative definition that states
that the term to be defined is correctly applied to a given case if and
only if the performance of specified operations in that case yields a
specified result.
Definition by genus and differenceA type of connotative definition
of a term that first identifies the larger class (genus) of which the
definiendum is a species or subclass, and then identifies the attribute
(difference) that distinguishes the members of that species from
members of all other species in that genus.