Online Dictionaries

http://www.allwords.com
http://www.askoxford.com/dictionaries
http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites
http://www.merriam-webster.com

Explanations and Description

Let us examine each of these.

But before we go to argument structure lets look at two things which you ought to differentiate from argument, they are explanation and description.

An explanation is not an argument. Whereas an argument is a series of statements designed to support or establish the truth of an idea, an explanation is a series of statements designed to shed light on some event that is already accepted as a matter of fact.

Technically, an explanation is composed of two parts: the explanandum and the explanans.

The explanandum is the event or phenomenon or thing which is supposed to be explained.

The explanans is the series of statements which is supposed to do the actual explaining.

Here is an example:
1. Smoke appears because of fire: a combination of flammable material, oxygen, and sufficient heat.

The phrase “smoke appears” is the explanandum and the phrase “fire: a combination of flammable material, oxygen, and sufficient heat” is the explanans.

In fact, this explanans itself consists of an entire explanation — “fire” plus the reason why fires happen.

Although people gain much information from their impressions, most matters of fact depend upon reasoning about causes and effects, even though people do not directly experience causal relations. What, then, are causal relations?

According to Hume they have three components: contiguity of time and place (bars and alcohol), temporal priority of the cause (boys and girls - binge), and constant conjunction (condoms - sex).

In order for x to be the cause of y, x and y must exist adjacent to each other in space and time, x must precede y, and x and y must invariably exist together.


Description:
In a description tells us about what a person, place, or thing, or an event was/is like.


Helper Words:
Properties Measurement Analogy Location
size length is like in
colour width resembles above
shape mass/weight below
purpose speed beside
near
north/east/south/west


DESCRIPTIVE WORDS

SOUND
ringing cheeping gasping smashing piercing peeping
whooping tinkling raucous chattering crooning bellowing
sobbing bumping snarling growling pitch crying
thumping burping croaking clattering yapping keening
splashing yelping rustling volume squealing howling
barking sniveling moaning pealing tone rattling
grunting clanging coughing quacking whining gagging
fizzing wheezing honking hissing bawling trumpeting
swishing sneezing rumbling bubbling ripping cooing
chirping shouting shuffling tearing popping roaring
thunderous scratching snorting crashing crunching cackling
tolling clucking silent tapping soothing crowing
tranquil melodious cacophonous singing quiet tune
loud tinkling noisy rhythmic mumbling twittering
din beat blaring cawing racket chattering
murmuring whistling clapping booming whispering mewing
snapping snoring yelling mooing crackling sighing

TOUCH AND TEXTURE
pressed damp fluted tickling sculptured dry
knobbed raw corrugated downy chapped scratchy
dirty grimy sopping itching abrasive dusty
scaled rasping prickly clammy pulpy kiss
scarred glossy wet pocked tweedy matte
moist woolly hard foamy dank patina
gripped burning hairy soft cottony scorching
furry bumpy rocking cushioned fluffy searing
fuzzy boiling sheer sheen scalding stinging
sandy warm shiny polished hot engraved
gritty inlaid soapy bubbly grooved cool
glassy ivory biting sharp rutted piercing
silky numbing velvety smooth freezing steely
keen icy corduroy grainy cold metallic
fine waxy coarse greasy curdled slimy
splintered lacy tangled spiky slippery creamy
matted slick shaggy bushy fiery stubbly

COLOR AND VISUAL QUALITIES
red saffron bright dark scarlet gold
dull light carnelian silver rose chocolate
crimson chrome lilac sienna salmon lime
copper vermilion yellow bronze avocado coral
primrose pale purple lemon canary violet
pink cerise mauve ruddy mahogany topaz
blue amber ebony flushed maroon amethyst
crystalline cyan navy wine white poppy
cobalt burgundy olive fuchsia turquoise claret
drab chartreuse orchid brilliant clear black
obsidian transparent khaki opaque translucent lavender
glassy jet gay rust carmine sapphire
dun cordovan indigo milky tan grizzly
ocher flesh buff brindle umber peach
mustard ultramarine snowy chestnut green smoky
sepia mint brass walnut pearl aqua
ruby emerald twinkling bistre sooty shimmering
jade plum charcoal maize lake iridescent
garnet slate spruce puce magenta sable
pearly aquamarine ivory henna citrine onyx
azure cream orange

SMELL
perfumed lilac earthy stinking fetid loamy
lemon scent odor fragrance sweaty sharp
rose lime rotten biting pungent musty
plastic acrid flowery fishy mildewed spicy
acid moldy doggy nauseating redolent skunky
dirty sweet tart minty moist putrid
sour fresh musty spoiled

PATTERN AND SHAPE
round parallel narrow reticulated crested wide
flat spherical globe rounded shallow drooping
erect dappled rolling orb hemisphere ball
shapely checkered adjacent curved pied concentric
triangle sharp short depressed swollen long
concave pyramid cone convex streamlined sunken
square diagonal contoured protruding banded terrain
horizontal rectangle cube vertical aquiline veined
cylinder depth disc palmate box width
plate pinnate spiked thread height arc
elliptical length worm-like crowned cupped serpentine
girth crescent pentagon breadth sinuous baggy
tight winding spotted oval hexagon octagon
tetrahedral solid lanky corkscrew helix curly
frail polyhedron trapezoid thin fat crystalline
fanned oval pointed plump ovate ellipsoidal

The Stupid Test! Here Is A Fun And Real Challenge!

OK. Pay close attention. Here is a very simple little test comprised of four easy question to determine the level of your intellect. See if you have what it takes to be considered smart:

Your replies must be spontaneous and immediate, with no deliberating or wasting of time and PLEASE no cheating!

On your mark, get set, GO!


1: You are competing in a race and overtake the runner in second place.
In which position are you now?

2: If you overtake the last runner, what position are you now in?


This is my favorite!

3: Take 1000. Add 40. Add another 1000.
Add 30. 1000 again. Plus 20.
Plus 1000. And plus 10.
What is the total?


I know you will get this one!

4: Marie's father has five daughters:
1. Chacha
2. Cheche
3. Chichi
4. Chocho
5. ?


Now challenge your friends!

Rules for Definitions

Logicians have identified six rules for constructing a type of definition that is suitable for general purposes.

A definition should:

1. Include a genus and a differentia.
2. Be neither too broad or too narrow.
3. State the essential attributes of the concept's referents.
4. Avoid circularity.
5. Avoid negative terms.
6. Avoid vague, obscure, and metaphorical language.


Let us examine each of these in turn.

A Genus and a Differentia

A definition should include a genus and a differentia.

Example:

Humans are rational animals.

The term "animal" names the wider class to which humans belong; it classifies us as a species of the genus ANIMAL.

The term "rational" specifies an attribute that distinguishes us from other species of the same genus. This part of the definition is called the differentia--it differentiates humans from other animals.

Neither Too Broad or Too Narrow

The point of a definition is to identify the referents of a concept. A definition that does not pick out the right referents- -one that includes too much or too little--is not doing its job.

A definition is too broad if it includes things that are not referents of the concept.

Example:

Humans are two-legged animals.

This definition is too broad because the defining phrase "two-legged animal" includes birds as well as humans.

A definition is too narrow if it fails to include things that are referents of the concept.

Example:

Humans are religious animals

This definition is too narrow because, no matter how widespread religious belief may be, some people are atheists.

Essential Attributes

The term "essential" means fundamental: An essential attribute causes or explains the existence of other attributes.

Example:

The heart is an organ that goes "lub-dub, lub-dub".

The "lub-dub" sound is a superficial trait; it is merely a by-product of the heart's essential function, which is to circulate the blood.

Avoid Circularity

A circular definition tells us how a concept relates to itself, but not how it relates to other concepts or to reality. Such a definition doesn't go anywhere; it just moves in a circle.

Example:

Suppose we define "ownership" as the legal relation between people and the things they own. Because this definition uses the word "own," it defines the concept OWNERSHIP in terms of itself.

Avoid Negative Terms

A definition should not use negative terms unnecessarily.

Negative definitions should be avoided because knowing what a thing is not doesn't tell us much about what it is.

Example:

At the turn of the century, the automobile was described as a "horseless carriage." The differentia "horseless" tells us about one source of power that automobiles do not use. However, there are many sources of power automobiles do not use; what we want to know is the source they do use.

Some concepts, however, are inherently negative, and thus require negative terms in their definitions.

Example:

A "bachelor" is a man who is not married.

This has to be defined negatively, since it is an inherently negative concept.

Avoid Vagueness

This is the clarity rule. The purpose of a definition is to clarify our understanding of a concept. At the very least, therefore, the language we use in a definition should not be less clear than the concept being defined.

A vague definition is unclear because it does not give any precise criterion for membership in the concept. A definition shouldn't have borders that are even fuzzier than those of the concept being defined.

Example:

Suppose we define "maturity" as the stage of psychological development in which a person becomes well-adjusted.

Who belongs in the class of well-adjusted people and who doesn't is unclear; the class has fuzzy boundaries that are even fuzzier than those of the concept being defined.

A Definition Should Avoid Obscurity

An obscure definition is unclear because it uses abstract or technical language that is more difficult to understand than the concept itself.

Example:

Suppose we define "death" as the cessation of one's participation in finitude.

The problem here may not necessarily be one of vagueness. Within a specialized context, this definition might have a perfectly clear and definite meaning. The problem is that if technical definitions are used outside of these specialized contexts they are not clear to the layperson.

A Definition Should Avoid Metaphorical Language

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

Example:

Suppose we consider the definition: "Life is a cabaret."

Like any good metaphor, this one uses a simple image to convey a complex thought that would take many paragraphs to explain in literal terms. Metaphorical definitions leave too many questions unanswered, which is why we need literal definitions.

Functions of Definitions

Concepts serve as mental file folders that help us organize our knowledge about classes of similar things.

Definitions tell us what is in the folders.

One major function of definitions is to tell us what is and is not included in a concept, by giving us a test or rule for membership. A child who has just learned the concept of PLANT can point to some obvious and clear-cut examples of plants.

A second function of definitions is to clarify the relationships among concepts. Concepts are not isolated, self-contained units; they form networks of interrelated ideas.

A third function of definitions is to provide a summary statement about the referents of our concepts. Definitions help us keep our filing system in order by giving us summary statements about what is in each folder. A good definition condenses the knowledge we have about the referents of a concept, giving us just the highlights, the key points, the essence.

Conjunctions, Relative Clauses and Noun Clauses

Conjunctions, Relative Clauses and Noun Clauses

A single sentence can assert more than a single proposition.

The easiest way of combining propositions within a single sentence is to use a conjunction.

Many conjunctions assert a specific relationship between propositions.

Conjunctions like "because," "whenever," and "so that" assert a relationship of dependence.

Conjunctions like "after," "before," "since," "when," "while," and "where" assert a relationship of time or place.

Conjunctions like "but," "although," and "even though" assert a relationship of contrast or seeming opposition.

In all these cases, the conjunction combines component propositions into a statement in which all components are being asserted as true.

Relative Clauses

A clause is a grammatical unit containing a subject and a predicate.

Every sentence, therefore, contains at least one clause, but it may contain more.

A relative clause relates one clause to a particular word in another clause. A relative clause normally begins with a relative pronoun: who or whom, which, or that.

Relative clauses can be either restrictive or nonrestrictive.

A restrictive clause restricts the reference of the term it modifies (a clause).

Example:

The Japanese who eat lots of fish have fewer heart attacks.

The subordinate clause restricts the reference of the term "Japanese" to a certain subclass of the Japanese people: those who eat lots of fish.

As a result, we are making a single statement about that subclass, and we are not making any statement about the Japanese people as a whole.

A nonrestrictive clause doesn't restrict that term's reference.

Example:

The Japanese, who eat lots of fish, have fewer heart attacks.

This proposition asserts that the Japanese have fewer heart attacks and that they eat lots of fish. It makes two statements about the Japanese people as a whole.

Noun Clauses

A phrase that functions as a noun, either in the subject or the predicate of a sentence, is called a noun clause.

Noun clauses can be either asserted or not asserted within a proposition.

Compare these two sentences:

1. The president knows that war is imminent.
2. The president believes that war is imminent.

In both cases we are making an assertion about the president.

In both cases we use a noun clause, "that war is imminent," to convey what it is that the president knows or believes.

And in both cases the noun clause expresses a proposition. The difference is that sentence 1 asserts the proposition, whereas sentence 2 does not.

The English language contains a large class of verbs that we use to describe what people say and think.

We can classify these verbs on the basis of whether or not they imply the endorsement of what is said or thought.

The following verbs do not assert what is said or thought: believes, says, argues, is convinced, and suspects.

The following verbs do assert what is said or thought: knows, acknowledges, proves, is aware, and realizes.

In the study of argument, it is crucial to know whether a speaker is endorsing a given proposition as one of his or her own premises or merely reporting that someone else accepts that proposition.

LOGIC AND ARGUMENTS

A. LOGIC LOGIC is concerned with STANDARDS OF CORRECT REASONING.

Study of these standards may be done from two standpoints: FORMAL logic and NONFORMAL logic.

FORMAL logic is primarily THEORETICAL, and is concerned with a clear and systematic knowledge of the PRINCIPLES OF REASONING.

NONFORMAL LOGIC is primarily PRACTICAL, and is concerned with recognizing and avoiding COMMON MISTAKES in reasoning.

B. ARGUMENT The notion of an ARGUMENT is fundamental to logic. As people interested in logic we want to be able to RECOGNIZE and EVALUATE arguments.

We may define an argument as A SET OF SENTENCES CONTAINING ONE SENTENCE (CONCLUSION) WHICH IS CLAIMED TO BE PROVEN BY THE OTHER SENTENCES (PREMISES).

To understand the notion of an argument better we must first understand the notions of SENTENCE, PREMISE, and CONCLUSION.

A SENTENCE is a grammatically correct string of words which must be CAPABLE of being TRUE or FALSE.

For instance, “Ancient Athens was the first democracy,” is capable of being true or false.

But, “Was Critias a great leader?” is not.

Which of the following are sentences according to the definition just given?

1. Nyerere was a great statesman.
2. Bring me the vase!
3. If it is geometric, then it is pottery from the 7th Century.
4. Damn the Spartans!
5. It is not the case that Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher.
6. Which way to the Moon?