identifying claims

IDENTIFYING CLAIMS:EXPLICIT & IMPLICIT

RooneyEnglish 207

Warning:

There is MUCH in this presentation to wrap your head around.

Don’t panic.

Parts of an Argument

Claims Reasons

Evaluating an Argument

Validity of the argument Analyzing logic and evidence

Analyzing an Argument

Identify the claim: what is the single unifying idea the argument wants you to believe?

Separate the reasons from the other elements of the argument (such as appeals to other Line of Argument)

Separate the reasons from each other

Identify and state the implicit reason behind each of these explicit reasons (this is the hard part)

Identify the evidence necessary to prove each reason and evaluate whether or not the argument has adequately presented that evidence.

Examine the logic used to connect all these elements to the claim.

Basic Argument Outline

Claim/Thesis: (Only one per argument) R1)      Explicit Reason Supporting Claim: 

Evidence/Proof Supporting Explicit Reason:

 Implicit Reason/Assumption/Warrant:

             Evidence/Proof Supporting Implicit Reason:

 Evaluation Of This Reason; Why Is It Valid Or Invalid?:

 R2)      Explicit Reason Supporting Claim: 

Evidence/Proof Supporting Explicit Reason:

 Implicit Reason/Assumption/Warrant:

             Evidence/Proof Supporting Implicit Reason:

 Evaluation Of This Reason; Why Is It Valid Or Invalid?: (and so on)

Explicit and Implicit Claims

Explicit Usually found in

argument Easily identified by

linking to “because”

Example: Jack is guilty of

murder (because he killed

Jill)

Implicit Assumptions & context

(when, where & why) Often infer values Values are dependent

on context Example:

what is the difference between kill and murder? (on purpose, self defense, time of war?)

Basic Argument Outline

Claim/Thesis: Jack murdered Jill 

Explicit Reason Supporting Claim: because he shot her on the way down the hill 

Evidence/Proof Supporting Explicit Reason: ??

Implicit Reason/Assumption/Warrant: he shot her on purpose

 Evidence/Proof Supporting Implicit Reason: ??

Implicit Reason/Assumption/Warrant: the shooting was not justified

 Evidence/Proof Supporting Implicit Reason: ??

Evaluation Of This Reason; Why Is It Valid Or Invalid?    

Determining Validity

Step 1:

State the source’s Claim or Thesis as accurately and clearly as possible.

Determining Validity

Step 2:

Locate and summarize the Explicit Reasons (ERs); state the ER as if it followed the Claim and the word “because”.

Example:

“…because it is threatening the salmon population.”

Determining Validity

Step 3: Locate the Implicit Reasons (IRs) for each Explicit Reason.  

To find the IR: write an “IF the IR (is true), THEN Claim (is true)” sentence. You may need or want to broaden the Explicit Reason to state a general

value or rule. State the line of reasoning as charitably and accurately as possible.

Example: 

“IF something threatens the salmon population, THEN  it should be removed”

or, without the “IF, THEN” formula, the Implicit Reason could also read:  “threats to the salmon population should be removed” or, “the value of

saving salmon outweighs the value of the dams”

Determining Validity

Step 4: Now, for each ER, find two sets of information:

a) evidence that the Explicit Reason is true and b) evidence that the Implicit Reason is true: 

ER Evidence = quotations and/or factual information.For our example, you simply need to prove that the dams indeed threaten the salmon population. Note proving this will be a matter of data, of numbers and facts.

  IR Evidence = tricky - the IR is usually implied in the overall context

the source speaks to.  Since the implicit reason usually refers to values (valuing salmon, valuing dams), and because context refers to “who, what, where, when, why”, you will usually find there are no universal appeals to Implicit Reasons:  if your farm depends on Snake River dams, you will value the dams more than, say, if your livelihood depends on salmon fishing.

Final Thoughts

Note that this process may reveal flaws and inconsistencies in the source’s argument.  

More likely, though, this process will reveal the heart of the argument and point us to the real issues that need to be settled.

Review: Finding Explicit and Implicit Claims

1. State the source’s Claim or Thesis as accurately and clearly as possible.

2. Locate and summarize the Explicit Reasons (ERs); state the ER as if it followed the Claim and the word “because”.

3. Locate the Implicit Reasons (IRs) for each Explicit Reason.  

To find the IR: write an “IF the IR (is true), THEN Claim (is true)” sentence.

You may need or want to broaden the Explicit Reason to state a general value or rule.

State the line of reasoning as charitably and accurately as possible.

4. Now, for each ER, find two sets of information: evidence that the Explicit Reason is true and evidence that the Implicit Reason is true