Review exercise
Answer briefly the following questions, giving, where possible, an example in your answer that is different from those used in this book:
a. Why are well-formed claims essential?
b. What is the role of connotations in thinking about well-formed claims?
c. What is the difference between claiming 'X happened' and 'Jones has argued that X happened'?
d. What roles do scope and certainty play in well-formed claims?
e. Which claims are least likely to be 'self-evident'?
f. What is the similarity between premise-claims supporting a conclusion and other claims supporting those premises?
g. How might we 'found' claims so that they are more acceptable?
h. How can we judge the 'truth' of a claim in trying to communicate our reasoning effectively?
NOTES_
1 See Tony Schirato and Susan Yell, Communication and culture: an introduction, Sage, London, 2000 for an in-depth treatment of this important issue.
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