Chapter 6 in the Epstein text, I learned about compound claims and "or" claims. A compound claim is a one composed of other claims, but which hasto be viewed as just one claim(Epstein, p.113).
For example: "I'll take you out to eat at Red Robin or I'll take you out to the movies."
I didn't promise to take you out to eat at Red Robin nor take you out to the movies. I promised to do one or the other. This is considered as one claim, not two. If I used the word "and" instead of "or", then we would have two claims - "I'll take you out to eat at Red Robin" and I'll take you out to the movies".
Another lesson I learned from chapter 6 is the contradictory of a claim. The contracditory of a claim is one htath as the opposite truth-value in all possible circumtances. Sometimes a contradictory is called the negation of a claim(Epstein, p. 114).
Example:
Claim: I am allergic to alcohol.
Contradictory: I am not allergic to alcohol.
Your examples of compound claims were right on, however I was a little confused about your contradiction claim. Although the definition states that contradiction is just the opposite truth of the claim, I didn’t understand your example. Probably a more clear way of putting the example would be to say:
ReplyDeleteClaim: I am allergic to alcohol.
Possible Contradictory Claim: I am allergic to alcohol, but I am not allergic to Vodka or Rum and Coke.
The contradictory claim has the original claim, as well as the contradiction so that this argument’s conclusion can follow from its premise. If we had to reiterate from previous chapters, this argument would be weak, because the conclusion is highly unlikely to be possible.
Your discussion of compound claims was very clear and you used a good example. Anyone who did not know what a compound claim was would be able to easily learn by reading your post. I like how you made it very evident that a key indicator to whether it is a compound claim or just two claims combined is the word choice in between the two. If the word “or” is incorporated in the claim then it is a compound claim. However, if the word “and” is used then there are two claims combined in one statement. Your explanation of a compound claim was thorough, yet I would have like to see you elaborate on the contradictory claim portion of your post.
ReplyDelete