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In the formal sciences, the domain of discourse, also called the universe of discourse, universal set, or simply universe, is the set of entities over which certain variables of interest in some
formal Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements (forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to: Dress code and events * Formal wear, attire for formal events * Semi-formal attire ...
treatment may range.


Overview

The domain of discourse is usually identified in the preliminaries, so that there is no need in the further treatment to specify each time the range of the relevant variables. Many logicians distinguish, sometimes only tacitly, between the ''domain of a science'' and the ''universe of discourse of a formalization of the science''.José Miguel Sagüillo, Domains of sciences, universe of discourse, and omega arguments, History and philosophy of logic, vol. 20 (1999), pp. 267–280.


Examples

For example, in an
interpretation Interpretation may refer to: Culture * Aesthetic interpretation, an explanation of the meaning of a work of art * Allegorical interpretation, an approach that assumes a text should not be interpreted literally * Dramatic Interpretation, an event ...
of first-order logic, the domain of discourse is the set of individuals over which the quantifiers range. A proposition such as is ambiguous, if no domain of discourse has been identified. In one interpretation, the domain of discourse could be the set of real numbers; in another interpretation, it could be the set of natural numbers. If the domain of discourse is the set of real numbers, the proposition is false, with as counterexample; if the domain is the set of natural numbers, the proposition is true, since 2 is not the square of any natural number.


Universe of discourse

The term "universe of discourse" generally refers to the collection of objects being discussed in a specific
discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...
. In model-theoretical semantics, a universe of discourse is the set of entities that a model is based on. The concept ''universe of discourse'' is generally attributed to Augustus De Morgan (1846) but the name was used for the first time by George Boole (1854) on page 42 of his '' Laws of Thought''. Boole's definition is quoted below. The concept, probably discovered independently by Boole in 1847, played a crucial role in his philosophy of logic especially in his principle of wholistic reference.


Boole’s 1854 definition


See also

* Domain of a function * Domain theory * Quantifier (logic) * Interpretation (logic) * Term algebra * Universe (mathematics)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domain Of Discourse Semantics Predicate logic