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Types of Claims

This document defines and provides examples of three types of claims: claims of fact, claims of value, and claims of policy. Claims of fact attempt to establish what is true or existed/exists. Claims of value aim to determine whether something is good or bad based on criteria. Claims of policy seek to persuade that a specific action or policy change should be adopted to solve a problem.

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Nashley Nashreeya Waya
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111 views

Types of Claims

This document defines and provides examples of three types of claims: claims of fact, claims of value, and claims of policy. Claims of fact attempt to establish what is true or existed/exists. Claims of value aim to determine whether something is good or bad based on criteria. Claims of policy seek to persuade that a specific action or policy change should be adopted to solve a problem.

Uploaded by

Nashley Nashreeya Waya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Types of Claims

Claims of Fact
Claims of Value
Claims of Policy
Claims of Fact:

 Did it happen?
 Does it exist?
 Is it true?
 Is it a fact?
Fact Claim

 Factual claims attempt to persuade you that


something existed, exists, or will exist or
about what caused something to exist.
 When trying to find factual claims, terms
don’t help much, but you could look for time
related terms such as "in the past," or "in the
future" and causal terms such as "leads to",
"improves", "destroys", or "is caused by."
Fact Claims

 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.
 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: Examples

 Women are as effective as men in combat.


 The ozone layer is becoming depleted.
 Increasing population threatens the
environment.
 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 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

 Value claims attempt to persuade you to approve


or disapprove of something.
 When you claim that sororities and fraternities are
the best extracurricular organizations for college
students to join, 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.
 When trying to find value claims look for
terms like "valuable/beautiful/interesting",
"good/bad/evil", "right/wrong",
"superior/best/worse".
Value Claims: Examples

 Soccer is boring.
 Smoking is unhealthy.
 Cell phones are valuable and perhaps even
necessary.
 Your new house is beautiful.
 Stealing is wrong.
 Pornography is dehumanizing.
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

 Policy claims attempt to persuade you or


your government to take some action or
change a behavior usually to solve a
problem.
 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.
Policy Claims

 A claim of policy often describes a problem


and then suggests ways to solve it.
 When trying to find policy claims look for
terms like "should", "ought", and "must".
Policy Claims: Examples

 Voluntary prayer should be permitted in public


schools.
 Smoking should be prohibited in public places.
 Cell phones should not be used while driving.
 The interest rates for credit cards should be
lower.
 Kids should not be tried as adults.
 Americans should only have to work 35 hours a
week.

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