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

14 SMART THINKING: SKILLS FOR CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING & WRITING

How do we identify the claims? In the first sentence, there is just one claim. In

the second sentence, though, there are two claims. The first is 'it is unclear just how

many Australians there are in favour of this' (note the use of 'this' to mean 'making

the nation a republic'); the second is 'until we know and are sure that a very large

majority of Australians want a republic, we should not move too quickly to imple-

ment this change'. Note how tricky the process of identifying claims can be. In the

second sentence, the first 'and' indicates a break between two claims, but the word

'and' is later used differently to combine 'know and are sure'. Similarly, the comma

after 'however' in the second sentence indicates that a claim is starting, but later on,

a comma proves to be part of a claim. Note, too, the use of pronouns such as 'this'

and 'it', which are used as substitutes for the actual nouns that claims contain.

As another example of this distinction between 'language for expression' and

'language for analysis', claims are sometimes expressed as questions. They appear as

that special form of expression known as rhetorical questions, in which the answer to

the question is presumed. For example, 'Isn't it obvious that Australia should be a

republic?' is clearly different from 'Do you think that Australia should be a republic?'.

The first question—a rhetorical question—is simply a clever way of saying Australia

should be a republic', whereas the second question genuinely seeks an answer. Hence,

to understand fully how claims are used in reasoning, we need to be aware of the

difference between making claims as part of writing or talking, and making claims as

part of the process of reasoning. Often, the claims we make in each context will be

similar—but we cannot rely on it. Natural language, when properly put together in

a narrative sequence, is an excellent tool for expressing our arguments and explan-

ations. A danger, however, is that the requirement for proper, readable expression can

confuse and mislead the unwary about the analytical units (claims) and structures

(connections between claims) which, actually, constitute the reasoning.

Exercise 2.2

Identify the claims in the following sentences. Then write three sentences of your

own, each of which expresses a number of claims in various different ways.

a. All that glitters is gold, and this nugget glitters.

b. Isn't it obvious that this song is called 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend'?

c. Silver jewellery is very common because silver is a cheap metal and it is

easily worked.

More about claims

Connections within claims

A claim provides an internal connection between at least two ideas. For example, the
claim that Australia should become a republic' provides an internal connection
between, roughly speaking, Australia' and 'republic'. Similarly, Australia should