Editing Domain of discourse (section)

==Etymology==
The concept ''universe of discourse'' was used for the first time by [[George Boole]] (1854) on page 42 of his ''[[The Laws of Thought|Laws of Thought]]'':
{{Quote|text=
In every discourse, whether of the mind conversing with its own thoughts, or of the individual in his folley with others, there is an assumed or expressed limit within which the subjects of its operation are confined. The most unfettered discourse is that in which the words we use are understood in the widest possible application, and for them the limits of discourse are co-extensive with those of the universe itself. But more usually we confine ourselves to a less spacious field. Sometimes, in discoursing of men we imply (without expressing the limitation) that it is of men only under certain circumstances and conditions that we speak, as of civilized men, or of men in the vigour of life, or of men under some other condition or relation. Now, whatever may be the extent of the field within which all the objects of our discourse are found, that field may properly be termed the universe of discourse. Furthermore, this universe of discourse is in the strictest sense the ultimate subject of the discourse. |author=[[George Boole]]|source=''The Laws of Thought.'' 1854/2003. p. 42.<ref>Facsimile of 1854 edition, with an introduction by J. Corcoran. Buffalo: Prometheus Books (2003). Reviewed by James van Evra in ''Philosophy in Review'' 24 (2004): 167–169.</ref>}}
The concept, probably discovered independently by Boole in 1847, played a crucial role in his philosophy of logic especially in his principle of [[wholistic reference]].

[[Alfred North Whitehead]] cited [[Augustus De Morgan]] as identifying "that limited class of things which is the special subject of discourse on any particular occasion. Such a class was called by De Morgan, the Universe of Discourse."<ref>[[Alfred North Whitehead]] (1898) [https://archive.org/details/atreatiseonuniv00goog/page/100/mode/2up A Treatise on Universal Algebra with Applications, page 100] via [[Internet Archive]]</ref>

[[Lewis Carroll]] expressed the need for a universe of discourse as follows:
<blockquote>It sometimes happens that, in one or both of the Terms of a Proposition, the Name consists of Adjectives only, the Substantive being understood. In order to express such a Proposition ''fully'', we must supply the Name of some Class which may be regarded as a Genus of which each Term is a Species...The Genus referred to is called the '''Universe of Discourse'''...<ref>[[Lewis Carroll]] (1896) ''[https://archive.org/details/symboliclogic00carr/page/10/mode/2up Symbolic Logic, Part I: Elementary]'' page 10</ref></blockquote>