Philosophy

Contemporary philosophers often talk of "thick" or "thin" terms. I get the general idea of what "thick" and "thin" mean in a philosophical context, but is there a precise or technical definition of their use?

Comments

"Thick" and "thin" are generally applied to predicates such as "is a person", "is wrong", and "harms". (The first of these can be applied to living organisms, the second to pieces of conduct, and the third -- a two-place predicate -- to ordered pairs of agents.)

Often, such predicates are used in different senses or meanings. Two such senses of the same predicate are related as thicker and thinner just in case all the marks or meaning elements contained in the latter sense are also contained in the former, but not the other way around. In this case, anything that qualifies for the predicate in its thicker sense must also qualify for it in its thinner sense: If the predicate in its thicker sense is true of anything, then the predicate in its thinner sense is also true of that thing. If the predicate in its thinner sense is false of anything, then the predicate in its thicker sense cannot be true of that thing. (These sentences must be modified in obvious ways for multi-place predicates, e.g.: If a two-place predicate in its thicker sense is true of any ordered pair, then this predicate in its thinner sense is also true of that pair. If a two-place predicate in its thinner sense is false of any ordered pair, then the predicate in its thicker sense cannot be true of that pair.)

Generally, as one packs more into the meaning of a predicate, making it thicker, this predicate is true of less.

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