A stipulative definition is a type of

definition A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitio ...

in which a new or currently existing term is given a new specific meaning for the purposes of

argument An argument is a series of sentences, statements, or propositions some of which are called premises and one is the conclusion. The purpose of an argument is to give reasons for one's conclusion via justification, explanation, and/or persu ...

or discussion in a given context. When the term already exists, this definition may, but does not necessarily, contradict the

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...

( lexical) definition of the term. Because of this, a stipulative definition cannot be "correct" or "incorrect"; it can only differ from other definitions, but it can be useful for its intended purpose.Hurey, Patrick J. ''A Concise Introduction to Logic'',

Cengage Learning Cengage Group is an American educational content, technology, and services company for higher education, K–12, professional, and library markets. It operates in more than 20 countries around the world.(June 27, 2014Global Publishing Leaders 2 ...

, For example, in the riddle of induction by

Nelson Goodman Henry Nelson Goodman (7 August 1906 – 25 November 1998) was an American philosopher, known for his work on counterfactuals, mereology, the problem of induction, irrealism, and aesthetics. Life and career Goodman was born in Somerville, Ma ...

, " grue" was ''stipulated'' to be "a property of an object that makes it appear green if observed before some future time ''t'', and blue if observed afterward". "Grue" has no meaning in standard English; therefore, Goodman created the new term and gave it a ''stipulative definition''.

On stipulative definitions

Stipulative definitions of existing terms are useful in making theoretical arguments, or stating specific cases. For example: *Suppose we say that to love someone is to be willing to die for that person. *Take "human" to mean any member of the species ''Homo sapiens''. *For the purposes of argument, we will define a "student" to be "a person under 18 enrolled in a local school". Some of these are also

precising definition A precising definition is a definition that contracts or reduces the scope of the lexical definition of a term for a specific purpose by including additional criteria that narrow down the set of things meeting the definition. For example, a dicti ...

s, a subtype of stipulative definition that may not contradict but only extend the

lexical definition The lexical definition of a term, also known as the dictionary definition, is the definition closely matching the meaning of the term in common usage. As its other name implies, this is the sort of definition one is likely to find in the dictiona ...

of a term. Theoretical definitions, used extensively in

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and philosophy, are similar in some ways to stipulative definitions (although theoretical definitions are somewhat normative, more like persuasive definitions). Many holders of controversial and highly charged opinions use stipulative definitions to attach the emotional or other connotations of a word to the meaning they would like to give it; for example, defining "murder" as "the killing of any living thing for any reason". The other side of such an argument is likely to use a different stipulative definition for the same term: "the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought" or "the premeditated killing of a human being". The lexical definition in such a case is likely to fall somewhere in between. When a stipulative definition is confused with a lexical definition within an argument there is a risk of equivocation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stipulative Definition Definition Arguments Reasoning

On stipulative definitions

See also

References