Chapter nine, titled Arguments of Definition pretty much makes the reader think more in depth of definitions. Never, before reading this chapter, did I ever really think about definitions, and how there are so many different definitions for a single word. Its crazy though how one word can completely change. I can think of so many words with multiple meanings especially this day in age. For an example, the word sweet has many different meanings. The word sweet could be a personality, a taste, and a word describing something awesome. Chapter nine explained why definitions matter, different types of definitions, how to craft definitions, and how they are used in our everyday lives. In this chapter, three different definitions are given that are used for arguments; the first is formal definitions, which are definitions that are found in dictionaries. The second type of definition given is operational definitions. I will later discuss these. And last but not least, definitions by example define a class by listing its individual members.
The part of the chapter that I found most interesting and enjoyable was the operational definitions. As the book said, operational definitions identify an object or idea by what it does or by what conditions creates it. The example the book gave was about harassment and whether or not something should be accounted for sexual harassment if the interest was mutual. The example that immediately came to mind was temperature and even more in depth, the word “cold.” I am from Buffalo, NY so cold to me is like 30 degrees. But people here in Arizona think 65 degrees is cold while I’m laying out trying to catch a tan. Or the word “hot” is a good operational definition, also. Some people who hate the sun think that 60 degrees is hot. People like me, who love the sun, think that 100 degrees is hot. There are many different examples out there that can help explain operational definitions.
