The potential and limitations of formal-logical approach to defining the concept of extremism: the definition outline
The article is devoted to the philosophic explication of the «extremism» concept through constructing the definition within limits of formal logic and presenting different types of definitions it offers. It is demonstrated that the concept of «extremism» is both intuitionistic and fuzzy, that explains the increased difficulty of defining it. The paper attempts to overcome this difficulty through delimitating various forms of extremism manifestations in ideology, psychology or activity. For each level the paper suggests potential genus-differentia definitions and definition-extending techniques. The procedure of constructing definitions is conducted using examples from scientific publications, internet content, and mass-media information. The revealed definitions are compared and analyzed in terms of their compatibility within frameworks of different methodologies, thus showing objective heuristic complexities, and as a result, the problems arising in processing empirical manifestation of this phenomenon.