Types of Claims: Establishing Purpose and Organization PDF

Types of Claims: Establishing Purpose and Organization Claims of Fact Claims of Definition Claims of Cause Claims of Value Claims of Policy Claims of Fact Claims...

Types of Claims: Establishing Purpose and Organization Claims of Fact Claims of Definition Claims of Cause Claims of Value Claims of Policy Claims of Fact Claims of Definition Claims of Cause Claims of Value Claims of Policy Five Types of Claims ⚫ Virtuallyall arguments can be categorized according to one of five types of claims. ⚫ Claims can be identified by discovering the question the argument answers. ⚫ As we browse the types, notice how the questions all invite different purposes and different points of view. ⚫ They all lead to argument. Claims of Fact: ⚫ Did it happen? ⚫ Does it exist? ⚫ Is it true? ⚫ Is it a fact? Fact Claim ⚫ When you insist a paper was turned in on time even if the professor cannot find it, or that you were not exceeding the speed limit when a police officer claims that you were, you are making claims of fact. Fact Claims ⚫ These are central to court room debate since lawyers argue about what happened in order to prove innocence or guilt. ⚫ Historians also argue about what happened as they sort through historical evidence to try to establish historical fact. Fact Claims: ⚫ Women are as effective as men in combat. ⚫ The ozone layer is becoming depleted. ⚫ Bigfoot exists in remote areas. ⚫ Men need women to civilize them. Fact Claims ⚫ Note that all these claims are statements of fact, but not everyone would agree with them. ⚫ They are all controversial. ⚫ The facts in these claims need to be proved as either absolutely or probably true in order to be acceptable to an audience. Claims of Definition: ⚫ What is it? ⚫ How should we define it? ⚫ What is it like? ⚫ How should it be classified? ⚫ How should we interpret it? ⚫ How does its usual meaning change in a particular context? Definition Claims: ⚫ The entire argument can center around the definition of a term. ⚫ When you argue that an athlete who receives compensation for playing a sport is “professional,” and thereby looses “amateur” status, you are making a claim of definition. Definition Claims: ⚫ We are considering definition claims that dominate the argument as a whole. ⚫ Definition is also used as a type of support, often at the beginning, to establish the meaning of one or more key words. Definition Claims: Examples ⚫ Marriage as an institution needs to be redefined to include modern variations on the traditional family. ⚫ Some so-called art exhibits could more accurately be described as pornography exhibits. Definition Claims: Examples ⚫ Wars in this century can all be defined as “just” rather than “unjust” wars. ⚫ Sexual harassment is defined in terms of behavior and not sexual desire. ⚫ Note that arguments introduced by these claims will focus on the definitions of family, art, fetus, just war, and sexual harassment. Claims of Cause: ⚫ What caused it? ⚫ Where did it come from? ⚫ Why did it happen? ⚫ What are the effects? ⚫ What will probably be the results over the short and the long term? Cause Claims: ⚫ When you claim that staying up late at a party caused you to fail your exam the next day or that your paper is late because the library closed too early, you are making claims of cause. ⚫ People often disagree about what causes something to happen, and they also disagree about the effects. Clause Claims: Examples The cause-effect relationship is at issue in these statements ⚫ Overeating causes disease and early death ⚫ A healthy economy causes people to have faith in their political leaders ⚫ Sending infants to day care results in psychological problems later in life ⚫ Inadequate funding for AIDS research will result in a disastrous worldwide epidemic Cause Claims ⚫ An organizational strategy commonly used for cause papers is to describe causes and then effects. ⚫ Clear-cutting would be described as a cause that would lead to the ultimate destruction of the forests, which would be the effect. Cause Claims: ⚫ Effectsmay be described and then the cause or causes. ⚫ The effects of censorship may be described before the public efforts that resulted in that censorship. ⚫ You may also encounter refutation of other actual or possible causes or effects. Cause Claims ⚫ The type of support for establishing a cause and-effect relationship is factual data, including examples and statistics that are used to prove a cause or an effect. ⚫ Various types of comparison, including parallel cases in past history to show that the cause of one event could also be the cause of another similar even. Cause Claims ⚫ Signsof certain causes and effects can also be used as well as hypothetical examples  that project possible results. Example: “By seeking to replicate the experience of reading physical books, new hardware and software actually will lead to an appreciation of printed and bound texts for years to come.” Claims of Value: ⚫ Is it good or bad? ⚫ How bad? ⚫ How good? ⚫ Of what worth is it? ⚫ Is it moral or immoral? ⚫ Who thinks so? ⚫ What do those people value? ⚫ What values or criteria should I use to determine its goodness or badness? Value Claims ⚫ When you claim that sororities and fraternities are the best extracurricular organizations for college students to yoin, you are making a claim of value. ⚫ Claims of value, as their name implies, aim at establishing whether the item being discussed is either good or bad, valuable or not valuable, desirable or not desirable. Value Claims ⚫ It is often necessary to establish criteria for goodness or badness in these arguments and then to apply them to the subject to show why something should be regarded as either good or bad. Value Claims: Examples ⚫ Public school are better than private schools ⚫ Science Fiction novels are more intereesting to read than romance novels ⚫ Dogs make the best pets ⚫ Computers are a valuable addition to modern society ⚫ Viewing television is a wasteful activity Value Claims: Examples ⚫ Contributions of homemakers are as valuable as those of professional women ⚫ Animal rights are as important as human rights Claims of Policy: ⚫ What should we do about it? ⚫ How should we act? ⚫ What should our future policy be? ⚫ How can we solve this problem? ⚫ What concrete course of action should we pursue to solve the problem? Policy Claims ⚫ When you claim that all new students should attend orientation or that all students who graduate should participate in graduation ceremonies, you are making claims of policy. ⚫ A claim of policy often describes a problem  and then suggests ways to solve it. Policy Claims: Examples ⚫ We should stop spending so much on prisons and start spending more on education ⚫ Children in low-income families should receive medical insurance from the government ⚫ Social security should be distributed on the basis of need rather than as an entitlement Policy Claims: Examples ⚫ Film-makers and recording groups should make objectionable language and subject matter known to prospective sonsumers Let’s have a few exercises. Fact Claim Increasing population threatens the environment. Policy Claim Every person in the Philippines should have access to health care. Value Claim Mercy Killing is immoral. Cause Claim Crime is caused by lack of family values Definition Claim The fetus is a human being, not just a group of cells.