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| Of any empirical concept always, and separately, check (1) whether it is ambiguous, that is, how the meaning relates to the term; and (2) whether it is vague, that is, how the meaning relates to the referent. | |
| Always check (1) whether the key terms (the designator of the concept and the entailed terms) are defined; (2) whether the meaning declared by their definition is unambiguous; and (3) whether the declared meaning remains, throughout the argument, unchanged, (i.e., consistent). | |
| Always check whether the key terms are used univocally and consistently in the declared meaning. | |
| Awaiting contrary proof, no word should be used as a synonym for another word. | |
| With respect to stipulating synonymities, the burden of proof is reserved: what requires demonstration is that by attributing different meanings to different words we create a distinction of no consequence. | |
| In reconstructing a concept, first collect a representative set of definitions; second, extract their characteristics; and third, construct matrixes that organize such characteristics meaningfully. | |
| With respect to the extension of a concept, always assess (1) its degree of boundlessness, and (2) its degree of denotative discrimination vis-à-vis its membership. | |
| The boundlessness of a concept is remedied by increasing the number of its properties; and its discriminating adequacy is improved as additional properties are entered. | |
| The connotation and the denotation of a concept are inversely related. | |
| In selecting the term that designates the concept, always relate to an control with the semantic field to which the term belongs - that is, the set of associated, neighboring words. | |
| If the term that designates the concepts unsettles the semantic field (to which the term belongs), than justify your selection by showing that (1) no field meaning is lost, and that (2) ambiguity is not increased by being transferred | |
| Make sure that the definitions of a concept is adequate and parsimonious: adequate in that it contains enough characteristics to identify the referents and their boundaries; parsimonious in that no accompanying property is included among the necessary, defining properties. |
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