Q&A Question: Is the role of a definition to describe the current usage or to normatively prescribe usage?
There are many types of definitions; there are lexical definitions which do nothing more than report the usage of the term. I would, actually, plead for another term to call such things; definitions have the connotations of being clear, and common usage, and therefore lexical accounts, are often not.
Definitions that we are interested in are not mere accounts of usage, but stipulative aids to understanding. The role, therefore, I think is to normatively prescribe usage. Indeed, as was made abundantly clear last class, the prescription cannot be arbitrary; there must be reasons for the discriminations of the definiens, as all definitions do discriminate. For instance, the reason that Literature can be oral is because language can be oral and the content of literature is language. Definitions ought to be normative prescriptions. To define 'x' is to describe what we should be meaning when we use the term 'x'.
I'll tempt this: my defintion of art is the creation of an object through the use of an aesthetic medium with the intent to convey and embody a concept or emotion. Therefore, it is my opinion that only when referring to such objects ought we to use the term 'art'.
I think one of the difficulties we are facing here is trying to come up with a denotative definition, for a connotative term. While there may be a lexical definition for literature, it seems the term's application is more heavily influenced by prevading socio-cultural norms attributed to what literature is and how it is recognized. I think your question is a good one whether we are creating a definition for our current understanding of literature, or for previous conceptions of it in past societies.
ReplyDeleteTo some degree I would rather hold that we are doing neither. It is not an issue of our current or past conception, but rather whatever conception makes the most sense. I do think the term literature ought to denote a very specific class of art. I will blog soon on a possible definition of literature, but until then, while the term has connotations, I do think it's denotative.
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