Definition
Pinning down exactly what something is by naming its kind and what sets it apart from everything else of that kind.
A definition (horismos) answers the question 'what is it?' by capturing a thing's essence. Socrates pressed for such accounts — 'what is justice?' — and Plato dramatized the hunt for them, but it was Aristotle in the 4th century BCE who turned definition into a method: state the essence through genus and differentia, naming the broader class (say, 'animal') and the distinguishing mark (say, 'rational'). For two thousand years this became the backbone of logic, science, and law, shaping how every later tradition framed and classified its ideas.
How it traveled
- CharmidesAthens · -399explains
- LachesAthens · -399explains
- EuthyphroAthens · -395explains
- IonAthens · -394explains
- MenoAthens · -385explains
- ProtagorasAthens · -385explains
- EuthydemusAthens · -384explains
- CratylusAthens · -375explains
- RepublicAthens · -375explains
- PhaedrusAthens · -370explains
- ParmenidesAthens · -370explains
- TheaetetusAthens · -369explains
- SophistAthens · -360explains
- StatesmanAthens · -358explains
- PhilebusAthens · -355explains
- MemorabiliaAthens · -354explains
- Greater HippiasAthens · -348explains
- LawsAthens · -348explains
- GorgiasAthens · -348explains
- Alcibiades 1Athens · -348explains
- HipparchusAthens · -348explains
- LettersAthens · -348explains
- LoversAthens · -348explains
- MinosAthens · -348explains
- CategoriaeChalcis · -345explains
- RhetoricChalcis · -335explains
- MetaphysicsChalcis · -322explains
- TopicaChalcis · -322explains
- Nicomachean EthicsChalcis · -322explains
- Eudemian EthicsChalcis · -322explains
Key passages(20)
Guide for the Perplexed · Moses ben Maimon (Rambam) · 1190 CE
קבוצה א. תואר מגדיר מהות2 הקבוצה הראשונה: תיאור הדבר בהגדרתו, כתיאור האדם כ"בעל חיים הוגה". וכבר ביארנו (א,נא4-3) שהתואר הזה, והוא המורה על מהות הדבר ואמיתתו (=מהותו האמיתית), הוא פירוש שם ותו לא. מין
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In Aristotelis Analyticorum Priorum Librum I Commentarium · Alexander of Aphrodisias
In Aristotelis Analyticorum Priorum Librum I Commentarium · Alexander of Aphrodisias
In Aristotelis Topicorum Libros Octo Commentaria · Alexander of Aphrodisias
In Aristotelis Topicorum Libros Octo Commentaria · Alexander of Aphrodisias
In Aristotelis Analyticorum Priorum Librum I Commentarium · Ammonius
In Porphyrii Isagogen Sive Quinque Voces · Ammonius
In Porphyrii Isagogen Sive Quinque Voces · Ammonius
In Porphyrii Isagogen Sive Quinque Voces · Ammonius
In Porphyrii Isagogen Sive Quinque Voces · Ammonius
In Porphyrii Isagogen Sive Quinque Voces · Ammonius
In Porphyrii Isagogen Sive Quinque Voces · Ammonius
Anonymi In Analyticorum Posteriorum Librum Alterum Commentarium · Anonymi In Aristotelis Librum Alterum Analyticorum Posteriorum
Anonymi In Analyticorum Posteriorum Librum Alterum Commentarium · Anonymi In Aristotelis Librum Alterum Analyticorum Posteriorum
Anonymi In Analyticorum Posteriorum Librum Alterum Commentarium · Anonymi In Aristotelis Librum Alterum Analyticorum Posteriorum
Anonymi In Analyticorum Posteriorum Librum Alterum Commentarium · Anonymi In Aristotelis Librum Alterum Analyticorum Posteriorum
Anonymi In Analyticorum Posteriorum Librum Alterum Commentarium · Anonymi In Aristotelis Librum Alterum Analyticorum Posteriorum
Anonymi In Analyticorum Posteriorum Librum Alterum Commentarium · Anonymi In Aristotelis Librum Alterum Analyticorum Posteriorum
Anonymi In Analyticorum Posteriorum Librum Alterum Commentarium · Anonymi In Aristotelis Librum Alterum Analyticorum Posteriorum
Anonymi In Analyticorum Posteriorum Librum Alterum Commentarium · Anonymi In Aristotelis Librum Alterum Analyticorum Posteriorum