Claims and Arguments

You know, there are days on which I feel a twinge of despair about the process of education. It seems that some parts of the mechanism are just not working the way they should. So here are some helpful comments for students, based on the sort of questions they ask me.

1. A claim is an assertion. It is something that is said to be true. If you are asked to discuss a claim, you are being asked to talk about arguments (see below) which show that the claim is upheld (that is, it is true), or rejected (that is, it is false), or some state in between (that is, more likely to be true or false, or not provable either way).

2. An argument is a series of statements which start from premises or assumptions, are logically linked in sequence, and are aimed at some sort of conclusion. Preferably, that conclusion has to do with what you are discussing, debating, or arguing about. More usefully, it is used to say something about a claim (see above). Most usefully, it provides definitive help in deciding whether the claim is true or not.

Be happy. Life is good.