Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 14:45:55 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199711191945.OAA03381@locke.ccil.org> Reply-To: Jim Carter Sender: Lojban list From: Jim Carter Subject: Re: Events, Sisku, le, lo X-To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: John Cowan In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sat, 15 Nov 1997 00:49:08 -0300." <9711150419.AA14973@julia.math.ucla.edu> X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Content-Length: 1312 X-From-Space-Date: Wed Nov 19 14:45:56 1997 X-From-Space-Address: LOJBAN@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU On Sat, 15 Nov 1997 00:49:08 -0300, Chris Bogart wrote: > Could someone explain what an "intension" is? The word has come up = > before here, and it's my intention to find out what it means. I gather = > from context that it's not what someone plans on doing. As I learned it, the referent of a set in extension is all of the members separately. Example: mi nelci ro lo mlatu I like all cats = I like cat #1 AND I like cat #2 AND etc. etc. Whereas, the referent of a set in intension is the set itself: mi nelci lo'i mlatu I'm not really sure what that would mean, applied to cats, which are not collective creatures, although to me it makes a lot more sense when used for numbers and things like that. British usage makes the distinction: It was revealed that the government _are_ corrupt (each politician individually) Therefore the government _is_ about to fall (as a collective unit) And now the thread wanders off into masses (loi), and I think I've done enough damage for today. James F. Carter Voice 310 825 2897 FAX 310 206 6673 UCLA-Mathnet; 6115 MSA; 405 Hilgard Ave.; Los Angeles, CA, USA 90095-1555 Internet: jimc@math.ucla.edu (finger for PGP key) UUCP:...!{ucsd,ames,ncar,gatech,purdue,rutgers,decvax,uunet}!math.ucla.edu!jimc