I learned a lot when reading about claims and their contradictories in chapter 8. I found very useful the chart on page 162 about claim words and the contradictory of each. Epstein explains that there are so many ways that people make claims it is hard to give a set formula for the contradictories. Some of the guides in the chart include:
Claim: All…
Contradictory: Some are not…
Not every…
Claim: Some…
Contradictory: No…
All are not…
Not even one…
An example of a claim: Some dogs are nice.
Two contradictories: All dogs are not nice. Or: Not even one dog is nice.
The contradictory of the claim is the opposite. These contradictions are like what we have learned in previous chapters, but here they use specific words like all, some, some are not, no, and only S are P.
Another thing that I learned was reasoning in a chain with almost all. Epstein explains, “Reasoning in a chain with “almost all” is usually weak” (pg. 172). An example of using almost all: Almost all cats like fish. Almost all things that like fish don’t meow. So almost all cats don’t meow. This example relates to the one in the book but gives a different idea for the reader. The conclusion in this example is false, which makes it very weak.
Hi Blog Student,
ReplyDeleteI found your explanation of claims and their contradictory statements quite useful. Your explanation is clear and thorough. I like that you gave simple examples for the different kinds of general claims and the contradictory statements that could go with them. This section could be a bit confusing because we use general claims all the time when we are not sure about the exact details of our arguments that we forget that we are making generalizations. Your explanation was useful because now I know that there is not a set pattern or list for general claims and their contradictions. It's important to know that the more details there is to back up your argument the stronger and more valid it will be.