Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, 2nd Ed

(Chris Devlin) #1
CLAIMS: THE KEY ELEMENTS OF REASONING 13


  • Is the world round or flat?

  • The world is round.

  • The world is flat.
    The first statement is not a claim—we cannot ask 'Is it true or false to say "Is
    the world round or flat"?'. But it is possible to ask 'Is it true or false to say "The
    world is round"?'. Similarly we can ask 'Is it true or false to say "The world is flat"?'.
    Hence the second and third statements are both claims, even though one is true
    and one is false. Claims are about the possibility of truth or falsehood, not about
    whether a claim really is true or not.


Exercise 2.1


Decide which of these statements are claims and which are not. Then write three
examples of your own of statements that are claims and three examples of
statements that are not.
a. Why did you do that?
b. There is a yellow marble on the table.
c. Get out of here!
d. Somewhere over the rainbow ...
e. We should always pay our taxes on time.
f. Cheese is made from milk.

Claims as elements of reasoning


Effective thinking skills can be elusive. Reasoning has a structure and content that
can be hard to control (as an author) and hard to discern (as a reader) when it is
expressed in normal English (so-called 'natural language'). We tend to assume that
claims are indistinguishable from their particular forms of expression, and it may
be hard to grasp just what claims do within reasoning unless we shake them loose
from their normal modes of expression. Claims may be expressed in natural
language. However claims are better understood as elements of reasoning: the basic
units of analysis in our arguments and explanations.
Written and spoken English does make claims, but draws them together and
expresses them in ways that are stylish, but which also make it harder to identify
and understand individual claims. In particular, sentences, which assist in
making English easy to write and read, can obscure the more analytical function
of the statements that these sentences express. Look, for example, at the
following:

Many Australians favour making the nation a republic. However, it is
unclear just how many Australians there are in favour of this, and until we
know and are sure that a very large majority of Australians want a republic,
we should not move too quickly to implement this change.
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