force." He did not get very far on the way toward making his term
clear. Be sure that your definition really explains the term.

Then one must be careful not to define in a circle. Let us take, for
example, the assertion or proposition, "The development of labor
unions has been beneficial to commerce." If you should attempt to
define "development" by saying "development means growth," you would
not have made the meaning of the term much clearer; and if in a
further attempt to explain it, you could only add "And growth means
development," you would be defining in a circle.

There is still another error to be avoided in making your terms clear
to your audience. This error is called begging the question. This
occurs when a term is defined in such a way that there is nothing left
to be argued.

Suppose your friend should say to you: "I wish to make you believe
that the honor system should be used in all examinations in the
Greenburg High School." You ask him what he means by the "honor
system." He replies: "I mean the best system in the world." Is there
anything left to argue? Hardly, if his definition of the term honor
system is correct, for it would be very irrational indeed to disagree
with the assertion that the best system in the world should be adopted
in the Greenburg High School.

To summarize: _Define terms carefully;_ make the definition clear; do
not define in a circle, and do not beg the question.

As you have already noticed, terms in argumentation, such as "honor
system," often consist of more than one word. They sometimes contain