CHAPTER 3 IDEAS AND TERMS

I. Introduction
Simple Apprehension, the first mental operation, is the process
of grasping or abstracting the essence of a thing without affirming or
denying anything about it. Its mental product is called idea the
verbal manifestation of which is called term.
II. Idea
Ideas begin with sense data; the sense organs accept a number
of impressions from the great number of stimuli coming from the
external world. An image then is produced. The image itself is not to
be understood as an unconscious representation of the attributes of
things; rather, it is a conscious experience in which the conditions of
the external world are somehow reflected. Our images refer to the
sensible aspects of reality, and by abstraction performed by the
intellect.
An idea, therefore, is abstract because it focuses only on the
nature or essence it signifies and leaves aside the concrete, sensible
characteristics of that thing. An idea is a mental sign whereby we
grasp the essence of a thing. Obviously, the idea is found in the
mind, not in things. The concept of “dog” is found in the mind of the
one who understands the nature of a dog. The mental operation by
which we grasp the essence of a thing without yet making a
statement about it is called simple apprehension whose product is a
term.
III. Term
Since ideas are abstract, there should be a way to express them
concretely. Term is the verbal manifestation of an idea. It is defined
as a sensible conventional sign expressive of an idea.
Sensible. A term can be perceived through the senses. It is seen
(if the terms are written), heard (if spoken) or touched (like in
braille).
Sign. A sign is something that leads to the knowledge of
something else. To be considered a sign there must be a familiar
connection between it and the reality it chooses. Now, a term is a
sign of ideas in the mind of the person producing them. The term
“chair”, for example, is the sign of the idea “chair” in my mind.
It is a conventional sign. Conventional sign is contrasted with
natural sign. It is a natural sign if the connection with the object it
represents is given by nature itself such as the crying of a baby as an
expression of pain, or heavy dark clouds as a sign of rain to come. It
is a conventional sign if the connection is set by people such as the
picture of a man with a shovel on the roadside indicating the
presence of road works or the skull in a bottle indicating that the
 content is poisonous. A term is a conventional sign since it is a result
of a common agreement among men. We call an object “chair”
because it is the term agreed upon by people. Of course, we may call
it “oohlala” for example, if we agree to name it that way.
It is expressive of an idea. Since an idea is abstract, it is made
concrete through the use of a term. Thanks to terms because
through them we are able to articulate or verbalized our thoughts.
Oral/written examination and text messaging are some forms of
expressing our ideas.
IV.Connotation and Denotation
Connotation and Denotation are the logical properties of terms.
Connotation. A term connotes something when it indicates the
meaning of something.
Denotation. A term denotes something if it refers to something.

Connotation refers to the group of characteristics essential to a term.

It is also known as intention, signification, or comprehension.
Denotation, on the other hand, is a set of things to which the term
refers. It is also known as extension.

Example
The connotation for Musician, for instance, is a “person who plays
a musical instrument or is musically gifted”.
This set of words constitutes the essence of all those persons to
whom the term “musician” applies.
Its denotation would be Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Cayabyab,
Manicad, among other musicians.
The connotation and denotation of a term are inversely
proportional, i.e. as the connotation increases its denotation decreases,
and vise versa.
When the connotation increases, the number of subjects referred
to are reduced. When the denotation increases, the essential elements
or characteristic are lessened.
If we include in our connotation of musician the word “foreign”,
the denotation decreases for it excludes local musicians. And if we add
the term “young”, it further decreases the denotation for it excludes the
old musicians. If the process is reversed by increasing the denotation,
this time, the connotation decreases.
Although most terms have both connotation and denotation,
proper names (like Adolf Hitler, Malacañang Palace, Statue of Liberty,
Microsoft, Barach Obama, etc.) have only denotation since they lack
connotation expressing attributes to define them.
Other terms such as “unicorn” and “centaur” have connotation for
there are such attributes, but lack denotation since they are non-
existent.
V. Classification of Terms
A. According to Comprehension
i. Concrete it expresses something that has attributes that
can be perceived through the senses. Examples:

pen chalk phone ring computer

ii. Abstract it expresses something separated from any single

object. It is a pure idea expressed in words. Examples:

truth happiness height knowledge beauty

B. According to Extension

i. Singular. It refers to a definite individual, event or thing.

The indicators are:

a) The definite article “The” example:

Ex. The student is comatose.

b) Proper names
Ex: Cubao, Michael and Luneta

c) Demonstrative Pronouns/Adjectives
Ex: this, that, these, those

d) Superlative Adjectives
Ex. most, best, worst

e) Personal Pronouns
Ex. he, her, we, our

ii. Universal refers to all individuals signified by the term.

Otherwise stated, it represents an individual member of the
class and the class as a whole. The indicators are.

a) Universal Quantifiers
Ex. all, each, everyone
 b) Universal Ideas
Ex. Man is rational.
A giraffe is an animal with a long neck.

iii. Particular refers to an indefinite part of a whole. This also

represents only a part of the universal whether it is definite
or indefinite. The indicators are:

a) Indefinite article “a” or “an”

b) Use of numbers: either ordinals or cardinals such as: ten,

sixty, second, third

c) General Ideas
Ex. Filipinos are hospitable.
Men are stronger than women.

d) Indefinite Pronouns/Adjectives
Ex. some, few, several
iv. Collective it represents a number of things constituting a
unit-group or whole. Examples:

family choir band fleet team

C. According to Origin
i. Immediate (intuitive) it is formed from the direct perception
of things. Examples:

chair whistle chirping of birds doll pencil

ii. Mediate (abstractive) it is formed through the mediation of

other ideas. Examples:

God human soul mystery Bermuda Triangle

D. According to Relation
i. Compatible are those terms that can co-exist in a subject.
Examples:

fun and dangerous brain and beauty

hot and spicy smooth and silky
i. Incompatible are those terms that cannot coexist in a
subject. They exclude each other. There are four kinds of
incompatible ideas:
 a) Contradictory are those terms that are mutually
exclusive such that the affirmation of one is the denial
of the other. Between these two terms, there is no third
(middle) ground. Examples:

same-different dead-alive
guilty-innocent naay uyab- walay uyab

b) Contrary are those that express extremes belonging to

the same class. Between these two terms, there is a third
(middle) ground. Examples:

rich-poor (middle class)

cheap-expensive (reasonably priced)
predated-postdated (dated)
intelligent-dumb (average minded)

c) Privative these are terms that have two opposed ideas;

one of which expresses perfection and the other its lack
that ought to be possessed. Examples:
sight-blindness hearing-deafness
truth-error sane-insane
walking-lame
d) Correlative these are terms that bear mutual relation to
one another such that one cannot be understood without
the other. They imply each other because one depends
on the other. Examples:
cause-effect husband-wife
whole-part parent-child
E. According to Meaning

1. Univocal Term is term that carries only one meaning in

its several uses. Examples:

human person internet picture

astronaut computer scientist

2. Equivocal Term is a term that carries different meaning

in its different uses. The term may be equivocal:

a. only in pronunciation

marry and merry blue and blew

 cue and queue jeans and genes
hill and heal not and knot

b. in pronunciation and spelling

march means a walk in a military manner, or the

third month of the year, or a procession as a protest
or demonstration
strike means to hit forcible, a refusal to work, a
sudden attack, or a request to remove the record
dear means precious, or expensive or the beloved
odd means unusual, has no pair, unoccupied

3. Analogous Term is a term that carries meaning in

some ways the same and in other ways different.
Examples:

dead end face lift sweet sixteen

dirty joke Good Friday

F. According to Quality

1. Positive in form, positive in meaning

joy victory liberation charity life

2. Positive in form, negative in meaning

crazy idiot crisis despair arrogant death

3. Negative in form, negative in meaning

immature unprepared disgrace loveless

4. Negative in form, positive in meaning

uncorrupted selfless unrivalled painless

G. According to Object

1. Real Term expresses something that has existential

actuality, whether positive or negative. Examples:

salvation corruption pain

blackboard cartoons telephone
2. Logical Term is used as a conceptual device to facilitate
learning. Examples:

subject classification phylum

species enneagram genus
3. Imaginary Term has no correspondence with reality
and is merely a fabrication of the mind. Examples:
Iron Man flying carpet batman
Darna talking tree catwoman