4.8 The Clarity of the System of Concepts in Logic

It does not need a definition that is obvious in itself. It cannot be successfully determined that is not yet ripe for determination. “But there is another kind of indefinable,” writes G.C. Chesterton. - There are expressions that all use and no one can explain. A wise one will accept them respectfully, as he will accept a passion or gloom. Challengers and debaters will demand that he express his thought more clearly, but, being wise, he will refuse flatly. The first, inexplicable expression is the most important. It can not be determined, therefore, can not be replaced. If somebody says “vulgarly” or “great” every now and then, do not think that this word is meaningless if it cannot explain its meaning. If he could explain a hundred in other words, he would use them. When Fighting Rooster, a subtle thinker, repeated Toots: “This is meanness! This is just baseness! ”, He expressed himself more wisely. What else could he say? There is no word for baseness, except the word "baseness". We must go very low to determine it. It is precisely because the word is indefinable, it is the only one needed. ”

Of course, “baseness” can be defined in exactly the same way as, say, pity, sympathy, immediacy, etc. What Chesterton has in mind is, perhaps, not so much the literal indeterminacy of "baseness" as the uselessness of such a definition. The word, standing in its place, really is the only one necessary. It does not need to be replaced with some kind of explanatory turnovers. Its meaning is already transparent. The stability and clarity of such a word are given by that integral system of words and their meanings, into which it is included as a necessary, non-substitutable element.

In fiction, as you know, there are no definitions, except for the certainty of each word by its environment. In scientific works, definitions — and particularly explicit definitions — are also ns as frequent as it may seem, if you form an idea of ​​scientific creativity using textbooks alone.

Integrity and clarity and artistic works and scientific theories give not so much clarification and reference to a clearer or more obvious, how many diverse internal connections of concepts. Not always, these relations take the form of special definitions. Clarity and validity of the holistic system, which includes the concept, is the best guarantee of its own clarity.