§ 144. A relation, it will be remembered, is a kind of attribute,
differing from a quality in that it necessarily involves more
substances than one. Every relation is at bottom a fact, or series of
facts, in which two or more substances play a part. A relative term
connotes this fact or facts from the point of view of one of the
substances, its correlative from that of the other. Thus 'ruler' and
'subject' imply the same set of facts, looked at from opposite points
of view. The series of facts itself, regarded from either side, is
denoted by the corresponding abstract terms, 'rule 'and 'subjection.'
§ 145. It is a nice question whether the abstract names of relations
should themselves be considered relative terms. Difficulties will
perhaps be avoided by confining the expression 'relative _term_'
to names of concrete things. 'Absolute,' it must be remembered, is a
mere negative of 'relative,' and covers everything to which the
definition of the latter does not strictly apply. Now it can hardly be
said that 'rule' is a name given to a certain abstract thing with
direct reference to some other thing, namely, subjection. Rather
'rule' and 'subjection' are two names for identically the same series
of facts, according to the side from which we look at them. 'Ruler'
and 'subject,' on the other hand, are names of two distinct
substances, but each involving a reference to the other.
§ 146. This division then may be said to be based on the number of
things involved in the name.
_Connotative and Non-Connotative Terms._
§ 147. Before explaining this division, it is necessary to treat of
what is called the Quantity of Terms.
_Quantity of Terms._
§ 148. A term is possessed of quantity in two ways--
(1) In Extension;
(2) In Intension.
§ 149. The Extension of a term is the number of things to which it
applies.
§ 150. The Intension of a term is the number of attributes which it
implies.
§ 151. It will simplify matters to bear in mind that the intension of
a term is the same thing as its meaning. To take an example, the term
'man' applies to certain things, namely, all the members of the human
race that have been, are, or ever will be: this is its quantity in
extension. But the term 'man' has also a certain meaning, and implies
certain attributes--rationality, animality, and a definite bodily
shape: the sum of these attributes constitutes its quantity in
intension.
§ 152. The distinction between the two kinds of quantity possessed by
a term is also conveyed by a variety of expressions which are here
appended.
Extension = breadth = compass = application = denotation.
Intension = depth = comprehension = implication = connotation.
Of these various expressions, 'application' and 'implication' have the
advantage of most clearly conveying their own meaning. 'Extension' and
'intension,' however, are more usual; and neither 'implication' nor
'connotation' is quite exact as a synonym for 'intension.' (§ 164.)
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