【分享】：解析关键字的定义

竹林中人

how I interpret certain terms or concepts used in the claim?

这是拿到一个题目首先要考虑的，就是需不需要解释一下我是如何理解一些概念的，这也就是说考虑要不要定义关键字。

It may be true that defining key terms and concepts is important to the start of any productive argument, but not all definitions are the same. Most logic texts list five different types of definitions which people might use. This can give the impression that the matter is pretty well settled, but it’s not. In fact, the assumption that the matter is settled is part of what gives rise to debates about the nature of definitions every so often. It might seem strange that a lot of ink and time is spent on something so basic a  “definition,” but sometimes it is the most basic of concepts that are the most problematic.

该段首句直接与intro中内容相对应 key terms and concepts &certain terms or concepts ，指出定义关键字对开始一个有效的论证的重要性。

末句则是指出我们经常犯的错误，往往认为某些概念显而易见，没有必要去进行定义，但是，往往越是基本的东西越是问题最大的。举例子说明一下：

31."Money spent on research is almost always a good investment, even when the results of that research are controversial."

这里的research是一个关键字，我们知道research就是探索研究的意思，貌似没有什么可以更进一步定义的。那么如果泛泛而谈探索研究，整个行文可能会略显困难，因为这个概念太宽泛，如果research笼统地都用这四个字概括很难写出cogent的文章。其实，仔细想想，research的目的是什么，research的性质，research的方式等等都是我们应该考虑到的，这也是对research定义的方方面面，通过对这些方面的分析我们才能真正确定我们的立场。比如：定义research是用来改善人类生活质量的，那么这道题目的立意就要侧重于结合生活质量方面，不断发展的技术为人类带来的利益方面来评估到底是不是good investment；如果定义research是探索未知世界，那么就要从一些科学研究、考古等方面进行考虑。所以说，不同的定义方式决定不同的立场，这是很重要的。

再看看intro中举的例子，可以发现定义关键字的必要性。

“In our time, specialists of all kinds are highly overrated. We need more generalists—people who can
provide broad perspectives."

Strategies for this Topic

This claim raises several related questions: What does it mean to be a generalist or a specialist, and what value do they have for society? Does society actually need more generalists, and are specialists, in fact, “highly overrated?

Why is discussing the nature of definitions important? If two people involved in a debate are using entirely different types of definitions for the same term, they may only end up talking past each other. Definitions shouldn’t necessarily be accepted at face value, but analyzing the worth of a definition requires understanding what sort of definition you are faced with.

这段举例解释定义的重要性说道，如果两个人在交谈中在不同的定义平台上，那么交谈毫无意义。我这里想举一个自己备考过程中的例子来说明一下：

11."All nations should help support the development of a global university designed to engage students in the process of solving the world's most persistent social problems."

这道题想必大家不陌生，通过建global university的手段来解决社会问题，显然题目的立意应该是在学术的方面来解决问题，那么我们的立意点可以放在建立大学的可行性问题和学术与解决问题的关系上，这也是一个比较主流的立意方式。而我在当初分析这道题目的时候就跑题了，没有对global university 的概念有一个准确的理解，直接就把立意放在政治方面，通篇是说解决社会问题应该通过政治手段。这个教训也正是照应了本段的列举，你的立意都和作者的立场不在一个平台上了，能不跑题吗？

What is a definition? In all cases, a definition is any group of words or symbols designed to explain the meaning of some other word or symbol. Good definitions are those which advance communication and understanding, while bad definitions are those which hinder or at least fail to advance communication or understanding. Even a bad definition is still a definition, and over the course of debates you may find more bad definitions than good ones.

这段告诉我们好的定义可以促进交流和理解，我想交流信息和使读者很好地理解文章内容应该是analysis writing的最基本要求吧。

All definitions are made up of two parts, the definiendum【被下定义的词】 and the definiens【定义】. The definiendum is whatever word, symbol, or group of words is being defined; the defiens, then, is whatever words are being used to do the defining. Thus, in the statement “a definition is a group of words or symbols designed to explain the meaning of some other word or symbol,” the definiendum is “a definition” and the definiens is everything else.

这段介绍definition的组成，老外做事很严谨，这个概念都要定义一下，我们的文章是给严谨的美国人看啊，由此定义的重要性可见一斑！

Do definitions convey information? That’s a matter of some debate. There are philosophers who argue that because a definition is simply a way of stating that the words in the definiens can be replaced by the words in the definiendum, nothing new is learned. Others, however, argue that because definitions help us clarify and explain ideas, they can therefore help us reveal deeper philosophical truths about the nature of not only language, but our own concepts and thoughts.

这里谈到两个关于definition作用的阐述。个人倾向于后者，我们在写作issue时对关键词的定义不就是为了帮助我们清晰地解释观点么。

What separates a good from a bad definition? That’s a difficult question to answer, but a general principle to keep in mind is that it depends a great deal on context — specifically, what the purpose of the definition is. To answer “is this a good or a bad definition,” one must first answer “what are we trying to achieve with this definition?” Thus we must examine the specific situation in which the definition is given and what sort of definition it is supposed to be.

这段给出了好的定义和坏的定义的评判标准，先回答通过定义我们能达到什么目标。我们在issue写作中定义关键字时，依照这个标准很有必要。我想有些同学在看了一些帖子后，也知道应该先定义关键字，然后拿到题目不管三七二十一，先查韦氏词典、wikipedia或者名人关于这个关键词的定义等，先把它定义出来再说。但是，要谨记，ETS要评估的是你的逻辑能力，那么你的定义应该是体现你逻辑能力的第一步，我这里并不是说要标新立异地去定义，只是要强调，定义之前先想想自己通过关键字的定义要得出一个什么立场来展开行文，而不是不假思索就借鉴词典或者别人的定义。

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                               下面是关于五种定义的类型的说明，我们在AW写作中没有必要这么深究，作为了解贴出来

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let’s take a look at the five different kinds of definitions you may encounter and how to approach them:

lexical definition

Most of the time when encountering a definition, we are looking at a lexical definition. A lexical definition (sometimes also called a reportive definition) is any definition which explains how a word is actually used — it is thus distinct from stipulative definitions which simply propose a possible way to use a word and which may or may not be accepted. Therefore, lexical definitions are capable of being true or false, of being accurate or inaccurate.

stipulative definition

We have a stipulative definition any time a word is being defined for the first time or in a brand new way. Stipulative definitions are in a sense completely arbitrary — this means that they are basically non-binding proposals which no one needs to assent to. Stipulative definitions may be too complex, too obscure, or too unclear, but they cannot be judged true or false, accurate or inaccurate. Stipulative definitions simply are, and we can agree to use them for the purpose of argument or we can reject them.

Persuasive definitions

Whenever a definition is offered for the purpose of influencing a person’s attitude or feelings towards the subject in question, we are dealing with a persuasive definition. As should be obvious from the name, the whole point is to “persuade” rather than simply explain or clarify — for that reason, persuasive definitions often aren’t considered entirely honest because they mask what they are really doing. Persuasive definitions may be true or false, like lexical definitions, in that they may or may not be accurate in how they describe a concept. The actual goal of persuasive definitions isn’t really truth over falsehood, however, so describing one as false isn’t always useful. Frequently such definitions are evaluated by their users by how well they persuade others to accept certain conclusions and attitudes.

Precising definitions

Although a good lexical definition should reduce the ambiguity inherent in a term, it cannot reduce the term’s vagueness. For that, we need to move to a precising definition (also sometimes called an explicative definition). Such definitions are similar to lexical definitions in that they are supposed to accurately reflect how a term is used by people generally or at least by a certain community. Precising definitions are also similar to stipulative definitions in that they propose to use a term in a way that is more narrow than usual.

theoretical definitions

If a definition is supposed to help us better understand a concept, theoretical definitions are those which do the most heavy work in that regard. Lexical definitions try to help us understand how a concept is used, but theoretical definitions try to help us understand how a concept is and should be used in all cases. Theoretical definitions occur whenever we try to characterize all entities or examples of a particular type thing or concept; they are usually seen in philosophy or science, and they can be among the most difficult to fully comprehend.