Tim, "to make finite" as a definition of "definition" is surely totally inadequate. That might (I suppose, I don't know & don't care) be the
etymology of the word, but the word itself doesn't mean to make something finite, unless we're speaking metaphorically, which we shouldn't do in definitions. I mean, what does it
mean to make a word or a concept or a thing (all three are sometimes said to be the subjects of definition) "finite"?
See fallacies of definition, last item, "Obscurity." --Larry
A definition establishes the boundaries of the concept being defined. Finite means having limits, and to define means to establish those limits. If a concept is not finite, if you don't know where it ends or where it begins, then you have not arrived at an adequate definition. - TS
To
LMS:
Why are we arguing about a criterion for a definition when we know what it is by
common sense...:-).
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