Beyond Brainstorm
Making a Claim
Grounds for Claim
Evaluation
Making a Claim
definitely true
probably true
no verdict
probably false
definitely true
not evaluated
Grounds for Claim
Common 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
Grounds for Claim
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
Evaluation of Reason
conclusive support
strong support
weak support
no support
not evaluated