No. 6 - I go again to logic and formal math, where you can never define any term by extensions because sensory perceptions aren’t reliable enough to give the needed certainty of Truths. Then you will have to start from some undefined elementary terms and work up from there. Other than this, though, this rule of thumb seems quite trustworthy.
No. 29 - that’s just inaccurate. As you said, there are more and less typical examples of a cluster. Hinduism is a typical example, so we stop there. But if a case is a borderline member of a cluster, you will need to run it by the definition to know for sure. And sometimes this will be more reliable or feasible than checking the desired query directly. Whether atheism is a religion will then depend on the definition of religion, which in turn SHOULD depend on the purpose of the categorization.
No.30 - maybe I have a use for “animals that look like fish”. “Belonging together” is not such a trivial matter, And there is sometimes serious merit for reclustering.
But it’s still the listmaker’s responsibility to show that the list has value.
No. 6 - I go again to logic and formal math, where you can never define any term by extensions because sensory perceptions aren’t reliable enough to give the needed certainty of Truths. Then you will have to start from some undefined elementary terms and work up from there. Other than this, though, this rule of thumb seems quite trustworthy.
No. 29 - that’s just inaccurate. As you said, there are more and less typical examples of a cluster. Hinduism is a typical example, so we stop there. But if a case is a borderline member of a cluster, you will need to run it by the definition to know for sure. And sometimes this will be more reliable or feasible than checking the desired query directly. Whether atheism is a religion will then depend on the definition of religion, which in turn SHOULD depend on the purpose of the categorization.
No.30 - maybe I have a use for “animals that look like fish”. “Belonging together” is not such a trivial matter, And there is sometimes serious merit for reclustering. But it’s still the listmaker’s responsibility to show that the list has value.