2.1 Claims, assertions, statements 17
Another way to distinguish this claim
from the other two claims is to say that it is
purely subjective. That means that its truth is
decided by each individual person – or
subject – who thinks about it. This is in
contrast to the first two, which are objective.
They are true or false regardless of what
anyone thinks or knows. The fact that the
truth is hidden does not mean that there is
no fact to be discovered.Value judgements
Claims like [C], that something or someone is
good, bad, better, nice, nasty, greedy, too rich,
underpaid, and so on, are also called value
judgements, for the obvious reason that they
are opinions about the perceived value or
worth or rightness or wrongness of things. It is
not a value judgement to claim that dinosaurs
had cold blood. Nor would it be a value
judgement to claim that some bank bosses
earn more in a week than an average worker
earns in a lifetime. For these are matters of fact
which can be quantified and verified – or
falsified, as the case may be – for example, by
comparing the earnings of actual people.
It becomes a value judgement if you claim
that there is something ‘wrong’ or ‘excessive’
or ‘obscene’ about a level of earnings; or if
you say that, on the contrary, it is ‘right’ for
such successful and talented individuals to
get huge rewards. It might be difficult to
justify a claim that such huge pay
differentials are ‘right’; but in the end it
remains a matter of opinion or belief; and
people may differ in their opinions.
When someone says, therefore, that a value
judgement is true (or false), they are using the
words in a broad sense to mean something like
‘true (or false) in my opinion’, or ‘true (or false)
for me’.Predictions and probabilities
Another special kind of claim is a prediction. A
prediction is a claim that something may or
may not be true because it is still in the future,it is a known or an established fact. You can
check it by looking in an atlas, or going there
and crossing the border. Some people may not
be aware of the fact, or even mistakenly think
something different; but that doesn’t in any
way alter the fact. If someone says, ‘No, these
two countries do not share a border,’ they are
wrong, and that’s all there is to it.
Note that stating a fact is not the same as
claiming it – or making a factual claim. You
can state a fact only if it really is a fact. But
you can claim that something is a fact and be
mistaken, or even be lying. Similarly, you can
claim to know something and be mistaken.
But you can’t actually know something that
isn’t true. You can only think you know it.
Statement [B] that dinosaurs were cold-
blooded is a claim to fact. But unlike [A], it is
not a known fact, by the author or by
anybody else. Scientific opinion on the
subject is divided, with grounds for claiming
either that the dinosaurs were cold-blooded
(like modern reptiles), or that they were
warm-blooded (like birds and mammals). The
best we can therefore say of this claim is that
it is a belief (or judgement or opinion); and
unless or until there is more factual evidence
available, it will remain so.
This does not mean, however, that this
sentence is neither true nor false. For either
the dinosaurs were cold-blooded or they
weren’t. Scientists may never know the truth,
but the truth exists and is there to be
discovered – even if it has to wait for the
invention of a time machine!
The third claim, [C], is purely an opinion.
Two people can disagree as to whether it is
true or not, and neither of them is necessarily
wrong. It comes down to what they think or
believe to be a reasonable wage, and/or what
they think of as ‘too much’. To say that the
sentence is true just means that you agree
with it, or assent to it. And to say that it is
false means you disagree. It can be ‘true’ in
your opinion at the same time as being ‘false’
in someone else’s.