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ambiguous claim  A claim that could be interpreted in more than one way and whose meaning is not made clear by the context.
analytical definition  A definition that specifies (1) the type of thing the defined term applies to and (2) the difference between that thing and other things of the same type.
composition, fallacy of  To think that what holds true of a group of things taken individually necessarily holds true of the same things taken collectively.
definition by example  Defining a term by pointing to, naming, or describing one or more examples of something to which the term applies.
definition by synonym  Defining a term by giving a word or phrase that means the same thing.
division, fallacy of  To think that what holds true of a group of things taken collectively necessarily holds true of the same things taken individually.
emotive force  The feelings, attitudes, or emotions a word or an expression expresses or elicits.
explanatory definition  A definition used to explain, illustrate, or disclose important aspects of a difficult concept.
fallacy  An argument in which the reasons advanced for a claim fail to warrant acceptance of that claim.
mean  A type of average. The arithmetic mean of a group of numbers is the number that results when their sum is divided by the number of members in the group.
median  A type of average. In a group of numbers, as many numbers of the group are larger than the median as are smaller.
mode  A type of average. In a group of numbers, the mode is the number occurring most frequently.
precising definition  A definition that limits the applicability of a term whose usual meaning is too vague for the use in question.
rhetorical force  See emotive force.
semantically ambiguous claim  An ambiguous claim whose ambiguity is due to the ambiguity of a word or phrase in the claim.
stipulative definition  A definition used to introduce an unfamiliar term or to assign a new meaning to a familiar term.
syntactically ambiguous claim  An ambiguous claim whose ambiguity is due to the structure of the claim.
vague claim  A claim that lacks sufficient precision to convey the information appropriate to its use.







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