Making a Claim

Grounds for Claim

Evaluation

Beyond Brainstorm

Making a Claim

definitely true

probably true

no verdict

probably false

definitely true

not evaluated

Grounds for ClaimCommon Knowledge

• what “everybody knows”, usually with reference to the community in which the term is used

• just because everyone believes something is true does not make it so

• there are many things which many people believe to be true which actually are true

• sometimes the assertion that something is “common knowledge” is merely another way of saying that someone is ignoring an obvious fact, or should have known about it had they been paying attention

Own Personal Knowledge

• something that you know because you have experienced it

• things you have found out for yourself

• you have seen it

• you were there when it happened

• it has happened to you

Grounds for Claim

Expert Opinion

• someone widely recognized as a reliable source of knowledge, technique, or skill, whose judgment is accorded authority and status by the public or their peers

• an expert differs from the specialist in that a specialist has to be able to solve a problem and an expert has to know its solution

• the opposite of an expert is generally known as a layperson

• a person may well be an expert in one field and a layperson in many other fields.

Grounds for Claim

Testimony

• an account of first-hand experience

• an ‘eye-witness’ to an event

Grounds for Claim

Considered Plausibility

• reasonable and likely to be true

•you have thought seriously about it and believe it to be true

•there are some reasons for believing it

Grounds for Claim

Necessary Truth

• something that cannot fail to be true

• can be demonstrated through an analysis of terms, so that in the end they become identities

•“All squares have four sides,” is a necessary truth, since anything with five sides is not a square. The word ‘square’ is defined by its having four sides, such that ‘five-sided square’ is a contradiction in terms

•a claim is said to be a necessary truth if, (roughly), it is true in all possible worlds or situations, (including the actual world)

Grounds for Claim

No Grounds Apply

• none of the other grounds relate to this idea

• other grounds don’t help us evaluate the claim

• none of the grounds apply

Grounds for Claim

Not Evaluated

• the statement has not been evaluated

• a claim has been made but there has been no reason given for us to think it is true

• an idea has been put forward without any assessment

• the claim is just that - a claim - this is its only status

Grounds for Claim

conclusive support

strong support

weak support

no support

not evaluated

Evaluation of Reason