Chapter 3

Claims
Learning outcomes

Understand more about How claims function

the significant properties differently, as premises
of these claims or as conclusions
Contents

Identifying claims

Argument and disagreement

Non-argument: description, explanation

Practice
1. Claims

 Represent truly something 'real' about the world

 Those statements that express beliefs or views about the way the world is or the way
the world should be

 Practice: Which of them do you think are claims?

 Is the world round or flat?

 The world is round.

 The world is flat.

 1. Claims

Exercise 2.1:

Decide which of these statements are claims and which 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.

Write three examples of your own of statements that are claims and three examples of statements that are not.
 2. Claims as elements of reasoning

 Reasoning has a structure and content that can be hard to control (as an author) and hard to
discern (as a reader)

 Claims are better understood as elements of reasoning: the basic units of analysis in our
arguments and explanations

 Example:

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.
 2. Claims as elements of reasoning

Exercise 2.2:

Identify the claims in the following sentences:

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

Write three sentences of your own, each of which expresses a number of claims in various different
ways.
 3. Claims and reasoning

Using claims as conclusions and premises:

 We reason by linking claims
 There are a number of premises supporting one conclusion, but the minimum requirement is
one premise and one conclusion
 There is nothing about a claim on its own that makes it a conclusion or a premise  we decide
Example:
 Your car is dirty.
 You drove the car through some mud.
 You should wash your car.
 Your car is dirty [c] because you drove through some mud [p].
 You should wash your car [c] since your car is dirty [p].
 3. Claims and reasoning

Exercise 2.7: Make up four short examples of reasoning using the following claims.
 The road is wet.
 You need to drive more carefully.
 You should pay attention to what you are doing.
 Verity has just come home soaking wet.
 There was a rainstorm a few minutes ago.
 3. Claims and reasoning

 We first of all have to decide which is the claim we are trying to argue for or explain  This claim is the
conclusion.

 dependent on the purpose of our overall argument or explanation:

 use claims about the future as conclusions: making a prediction:

 'In the future, the world will be much warmer [c] because of the effects of industrial pollution [p]

 use as a conclusion any claim that makes an appeal for people:

 'We should reduce the production of carbon monoxide [c] because this action will reduce the rate
of global warming [p]