Page 122 - Gabrijela Kišiček and Igor Ž. Žagar (eds.), What do we know about the world? Rhetorical and argumentative perspectives, Digital Library, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana 2013
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What Do We Know about the World?
Table 4: Stipulative definitions – Dialectical profile
The act of stipulating a new definition can be carried out in order to
introduce ambiguities. For instance, the concept of security triggers spe-
cific inferences because of its old military meaning. The redefinition cre-
ates a coexistence of meanings, so that the conclusions usually support-
ed by the old one are also drawn when the newly defined word is used.
5. The Acts of Non-Defining
Usually actions are associated with the “state or process of doing
something”. As seen above, verbal actions are performed in order to
bring about specific conversational effects. However, the agent can cause
intentionally some effects also by failing to perform a specific activity.
For instance, the so called “code of silence” results in criminals being
not prosecuted. In law, omissions are defined in terms of the duties to
act, as breaches of an affirmative duty to perform the omitted actions
(Glanville, 1983: 148–149; Fusco, 2008: 86). However, outside the codi-
fied domain of law the concept of omission can become more complex to
define. Omission can be regarded as an act of a kind where the agent de-
cides not to perform an action that was sufficient for the occurrence of a
specific consequence at a later time (Aqvist, 1974; Chisholm, 1976; Wal-
ton, 1980: 317). In this sense, an omission is characterized by a deliberate
decision to leave open the possibility of the occurrence of a specific state
Table 4: Stipulative definitions – Dialectical profile
The act of stipulating a new definition can be carried out in order to
introduce ambiguities. For instance, the concept of security triggers spe-
cific inferences because of its old military meaning. The redefinition cre-
ates a coexistence of meanings, so that the conclusions usually support-
ed by the old one are also drawn when the newly defined word is used.
5. The Acts of Non-Defining
Usually actions are associated with the “state or process of doing
something”. As seen above, verbal actions are performed in order to
bring about specific conversational effects. However, the agent can cause
intentionally some effects also by failing to perform a specific activity.
For instance, the so called “code of silence” results in criminals being
not prosecuted. In law, omissions are defined in terms of the duties to
act, as breaches of an affirmative duty to perform the omitted actions
(Glanville, 1983: 148–149; Fusco, 2008: 86). However, outside the codi-
fied domain of law the concept of omission can become more complex to
define. Omission can be regarded as an act of a kind where the agent de-
cides not to perform an action that was sufficient for the occurrence of a
specific consequence at a later time (Aqvist, 1974; Chisholm, 1976; Wal-
ton, 1980: 317). In this sense, an omission is characterized by a deliberate
decision to leave open the possibility of the occurrence of a specific state
