Definition

A definition is a statement of the meaning of word, phrase, or term. Consider that definition for a moment. (Do we see the beginnings of an infinite regress, definition of definition of definition?) If we replaced the word "is" with an equals sign, it would read: A definition = a statement of the meaning of a word, phrase, or term. This form is reversible: A statement of the meaning of a word, phrase, or term = a definition. The statement is also stable under alternation: A definition is a statement of the meaning of a word, or a statement of the meaning of a phrase, or a statement of the meaning of a term. In short, the word, phrase or term defined, and the defining word, phrase or term, may be substituted for one another, without changing the meaning of the statement in which they are used.

To be happy is to be characterized by good luck. Happy is synonymous with fortunate. The definition of happiness is good fortune. One can use "happy" in any sentence in which one would use "fortunate," without changing the meaning of the sentence. The Queen of Sheba said to Solomon, "How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom." This sentence retains its meaning when one modifies it to, "How fortunate your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom."

When one is happy, one is enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure or joy. Happy is a synonym for glad, and unhappy is a synonym for sad. "A happy face makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." This is a perfectly acceptable meaning of the word "happy," and it is commonly used in this way. There is a degree to which the two meanings impinge upon one another. If one has good luck, one should be cheerful. But they are, in fact, distinct meanings. When one says that one had a run of bad luck, that is not interchangeable in meaning with saying that one was depressed or sad all day. Solomon's officials may be pleased to hear his wisdom, but they are lucky to receive it, even if they take no pleasure in it.

Aristotle says that equivocation occurs when two objects share a name and nothing else. Another way to put that is to say that a word may have two (or more) definitions. So it is with "happiness." One must always be clear whether one is using "happy" to mean "lucky," or to mean "showing joy." When a word has two definitions, either of which may be accepted for some uses, great confusion can result from a failure to specify which definition is in use.

While definitions are important, it should be remembered that they tell one nothing of the empirical content of a concept. "God" has been defined as "a being than which there can be no greater." That is a workable definition, clear and unambiguous. It could be used to substitute for "God" wherever it occurred, although it would substantially increase the length of the document. However, when one tries to use this definition to prove that God exists, one is going beyond the power to definitions, which is, after all, merely to express the relationships of words to one another. That a = b proves neither that a exists, not that there is any b.