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Claims, Assertions, Statements - Coggle Diagram
Claims, Assertions, Statements
A claim, assertion or statement is an expression that is supposedly true.
We have to say 'supposedly true' because
obviously not all claims and assertions are true.
Sorne are deliberate lies; some are based on mistaken belief, some are not straightforwardly true or false, but can still be asserted, or denied.
The wording may be different but the claim may be
practically the same.
Divisions
Claims can be divided roughly into those that
state facts and those that express opinions.
Facts (objective)
Example A: Angola shares a border with Namibia
It's a known or established fact. You can verify it. Sorne people may not be aware of the fact, or even mistakenly think something different; but that doesn't in any way alter the fact.
Opinions (subjective)
Example C: Top bankers earn too much money.
It's purely an opinion. Two people can disagree as to whether it is true or not, and neither of them is necessarily wrong. Its truth is decided by each individual person.
Claim to fact (objective)
Example B: The dinosaurs were cold-blooded.
It's not a known fact but a claim to fact. This does not mean that this sentence is neither true nor false. For either the dinosaurs were cold-blooded or they weren't.
A fact is a true statement and an opinion a belief or view about something
Types of sentences
Interrogatives
Imperatives
Declaratives (CLAIMS)
All claims (declaratives) can be judged to be true or false. You may not know whether a particular claim is true, but at least it makes sense to say that it is; or that you agree or disagree with it.
It makes no sense to say that a question or command is true.
State VS Claim
Stating a fact is not the same as claiming it. You can state a fact only if it really is a fact. But you can claim that something is a fact and be mistaken, or even be lying.
Types
Value judgements
That something or someone is good, bad, better, nice, nasty, greedy, too rich, underpaid, and so on, are opinions about the perceived value or worth or rightness or wrongness of things.
Predictions and probabilities
A prediction is a claim that something may or may not be true because it is still in the future or is as yet unverified. Even when a claim cannot be made with certainty, it can often be made with some degree of probability.
Hypotheses
Many of the claims that scientists treat as fact should be understood as probabilities of a very high order. These are often referred to as hypotheses, even when they are generally accepted as true.
Recommendations
It's a claim about how things ought to be, or what the author thinks should be done in response to the situation. They are not straightforwardly true or false.