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hey guys uh last time we talked about
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some basics
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claim truth and contradiction and today
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we are going to be talking about
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claim types now at some point in the
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previous lesson
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i had mentioned that not all claims are
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equal there are different types of
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claims
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and today we're going to really hone in
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on that so
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when you're talking about types of
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claims i think it's helpful to always
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have
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two related questions in mind
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uh the first question is what is the
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claim about
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or rather what type of thing is the
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claim about
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and the second question is how would one
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go about verifying or falsifying the
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claim
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and the answer to those two questions is
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going to determine
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the type of claim it is
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now there are three general types of
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claims that we are going to
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be going over today and like always they
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contain words that sound familiar but
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that we have to parse out
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a little more technically so
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the first type of claim
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is what we would call
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an empirical claim
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now probably you've heard the word
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empirical
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if you've ever taken a science
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class right you talk about empirical
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study
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empirical data and all that good stuff
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now when you see the word
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empirical what you want to remember is
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that
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it refers to your senses
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right to call something empirical is to
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say that it has a certain relationship
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to uh human sensory apparatus right so
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um for example in epistemology which is
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a branch of philosophy empiricism is the
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is the position that all knowledge is
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ultimately founded upon sense experience
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when scientists talk about empirical
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data they're talking about things that
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are observable
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or otherwise measurable through sensory
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means
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so if we refer back to those
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questions that i just gave you guys what
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is it about and how can we go about
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verifying it we would say that an
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empirical claim
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is about
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perceivable phenomena out in the world
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for example if i looked outside
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and i said it is windy
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right now that's an empirical plane
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right because it's a claim about some
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phenomena
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right out in the world um
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and when i say out in the world i think
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that's key because
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empirical uh claims are always going to
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be about
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things that are like out right they're
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like outer phenomena
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um they're publicly accessible
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so you could look at the tree someone
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else can listen to hear if it's windy
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someone else could like put their finger
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out the window to feel if wind is
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blowing the idea
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is that there's something happening out
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in the world
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externally is another way of saying that
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and i'm making a claim about those
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things so the next part would be
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to ask yourself all right if i make a
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claim about perceivable phenomena
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how would you go about checking if it's
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true
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right like if i said to you uh it's
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windy outside right
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now right or better yet i'll do
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something more concrete
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the tree branch right outside my window
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is blowing in the wind if i said that
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how would you go about demonstrating
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that that claim was true or false
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well the answer would be you would
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perceive it right you would you would
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use your senses
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and that's the key right that's what
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makes a claim empirical it's about
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perceivable phenomena
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and it is verified or falsified
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via the senses
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so i can again i could look outside the
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branch
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um i could listen to see if the branch
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is blowing i could
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put my hand outside the window and see
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if there's wind or something like that
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um and empirical claims are super common
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like probably most claims you make are
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empirical claims
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um oh there's a bug over there in the
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corner if not i would be freaked out
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um oh the painting in here is lower than
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where you used to hang it
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or oh the peanut butter is in the
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cabinet
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or something like that right or the
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stove is hot if you put your hand on it
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those are all empirical claims
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um the leaves of trees are green
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in the summer and spring and then they
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turn white and pink
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sorry they they're green in the summer
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they turn white and pink in the spring
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and then
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they turn yellow orange and red in the
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fall right
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you know all empirical planes because
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they're all about stuff out in the world
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and the way you go about verifying or
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falsifying them
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is by using your senses and these are
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all very
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simple examples but empirical claims can
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be more complex
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and and what i mean by that is if you
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say something like
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um you know between
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1929 and 1931
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uh x amount of people lost their jobs
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that's an empirical claim it's not a
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simple thing like the marker is black
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it's about an event or a series of
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events right it's not about one thing
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it's about many things happening right
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and you're making a claim about that
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whole historical event that's
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that's the fourth empirical plane
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because how do you know if that's true
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well you check the data it's like how
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many people
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were in the workforce before this thing
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happened and how many people were in the
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workforce
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after this thing happened and how many
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uh
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of those decreased numbers were directly
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a result of the thing happening right
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this is all
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research you have to do about stuff out
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in the world or
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if you said something like uh you know
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thomas jefferson believed in god
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right thomas jefferson was a theist
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like well we would check his journals we
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would check
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things he wrote down and like see if
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that was actually the case
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or there are a bunch of things you could
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say like
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when you touch snow it's cold
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right or water freezes at 32 degrees
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less than 32 degrees fahrenheit or
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whatever
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right like that's an empirical claim
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about stuff that happens out in the
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world
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and you can only know if that's true or
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not by testing it
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by perceivable means and the perception
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isn't always direct
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right like scientists for example would
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use machines
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um to detect wavelengths
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uh you know light that we can't see
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directly from our eyes
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but it's the same kind of thing it's
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like you're using the senses
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to view the machines that indirectly
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measure these things out in the world
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all empirical stuff okay
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but not all claims are empirical
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and i'll give you an example so if i
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said something like
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bill uh has math class at three o'clock
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you say okay it's about something out in
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the world and i can check it
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but then if i said something like
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all triangles have three sides
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is that an empirical claim and you might
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be tempted at first to say yeah because
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you're like oh well a triangle is a
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thing
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out in the world and you're like
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checking but
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but is that really the case where where
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are these triangles out in the world
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that you're looking at to verify the
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claim
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all triangles have three sides and of
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course the answer is
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they don't exist right because when you
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say all triangles have three sides
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you're not just referring to like a set
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of objects you're talking about the
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concept of triangle
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and you are defining the concept or
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explaining some aspect of the definition
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or something that necessarily follows
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from the definition
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right you're talking about principles
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you're talking about ideas
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or if i said two plus two is four like
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are you looking
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out in the world for the number two and
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like looking at all the additions in the
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world
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no because there are no number twos in
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the world and there are no
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addition signs out in the world or
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anything like that
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so there's this other type of claim that
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we call
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rational and
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rational claims let me back up
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because i know you're thinking this that
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doesn't mean
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good like rational in in the proper
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context does not mean
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good it doesn't mean correct
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or right and people always get confused
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about that because they think like oh
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but rational means
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you know if he says like that's rational
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he's saying it's true or
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it's good or something we're gonna
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dig down like very fundamentally here
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and the word rational
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means pertaining to reason
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and reason alone if you look in the
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history of philosophy right
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empirical claims are claims that pertain
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to
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sensory experience rational claims are
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claims that
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pertain to the faculty of reason alone
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and so we say rational claims are about
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not perceivable phenomena out in the
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world
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rather about concepts
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and definitions
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or ideas right they're they're not about
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concrete things this is another way of
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thinking about them
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they're about abstract things like the
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number two
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is an abstraction because it's not
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something you touch
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it's something you think about or
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triangle it's not like something you
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touch that's a concept that you think
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about
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so rational claims are about
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abstract concepts and definitions
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right they're about principles and
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relations between those ideas
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and so if you think about you know all
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triangles have
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three sides
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two plus two is four or even two plus
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two is five you say that's false
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why why is that false what is your means
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of verification or falsification
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and you would see it's different than
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this because if i say the tree is
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blowing you have to like go check
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right but when i say all triangles have
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five sides you know that's wrong right
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off the bat
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not because you went out in the world
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and like checked all these
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triangles hidden in places and counted
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all their sides
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no merely because you thought about the
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definition
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so these things are verified
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or falsified
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merely by
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thinking about definitions
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and that could mean one definition or
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thinking about the
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relationship between certain definitions
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so one definition would be all triangles
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have
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three sides and you're like yep that's
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the definition of a triangle
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or all triangles have five sides nope
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that's not the definition of a triangle
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but you can also relate definitions
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and that's also a rational claim so if i
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said something like
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um octagons have more size than squares
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that's a rational claim right because
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you're thinking about the concept
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of octagon like okay that's eight sides
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and then you're thinking about the
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concept of square
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okay that's four sides and then you're
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thinking about numeric relations like
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okay eight is more than four
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ah yes so octagons by definition
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necessarily
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have more than four sides and therefore
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have
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more size than squares right that's all
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a rational process
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and again do not think of this i'm going
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to say this 18 times and i'm sorry
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uh do not think of this as meaning
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correct because rational claims aren't
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always correct
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like all triangles have seven sides all
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triangles have 87 sides
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no square has four sides like those are
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all rational claims and they're
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they're not true right they're false so
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the terms empirical and rational do not
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refer to
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something's truth value rather
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they refer to uh
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the type of thing the claim is about
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and the means of verifying the claim
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that's all it needs so if you think
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about it
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you'll see why these claims
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don't work if you thought about them in
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this way so
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if you take that example i gave just
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before about the tree blowing outside my
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window
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and i said to you hey the tree branch
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outside of my window is blowing right
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now
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you know that that's not a rational
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claim because you can't
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prove that or disprove that so to speak
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by just thinking about the concepts
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mentioned in the claim
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like it's not like you could be like hmm
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if i just think about the concept of
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tree
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and the concept of blowing and the
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concept of window
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then i could just know whether or not
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what he said about the
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the actual tree outside of his window is
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blowing you can't do that
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right this is about a particular
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concrete
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items out in the world and these are
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about
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uh general abstract concepts and
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relations between the concept
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so these ones you need to go out in the
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world these ones you just think
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about definitions and their relations so
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um in the in the last lesson we talked a
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little bit about objectivity
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and and subjectivity both of these types
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of claims
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are again objective right they're either
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true or they're false
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and they're true or false regardless of
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your feelings
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about them the tree is either blowing or
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it's not blowing
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the cup is either containing liquid or
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containing no liquid
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two plus two is either four or it's not
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four
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right it's it's kind of a binary thing
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right true or not true
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um and that's that's not to say that you
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know
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all dichotomies um
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are actual right or like are good um
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no it's just to say that some
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dichotomies are real some binaries are
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real and truth is one of those things
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so i mentioned i think in the last
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lesson too like this has something the
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the objective subject of distinction has
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something to do with
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uh mode of access so like if i
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make a claim about the tree in my yard
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that's something that any uh
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person would be able to hypothetically
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access
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and see if it was happening or not right
00:17:01
everyone can access it
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similarly when you think about concepts
00:17:06
and i talk about
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um you know if i've known you i know
00:17:11
remember when we talked about
00:17:12
last video that it was a contradiction
00:17:15
to say
00:17:16
i've known you for seven years but i've
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known you for less than three years like
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that's a contradiction and that's
00:17:22
actually a rational claim and you know
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it's incorrect and contradictory merely
00:17:26
by thinking about
00:17:28
uh the definitions involved and
00:17:31
the thing about definitions and concept
00:17:33
is these things are also
00:17:35
uh publicly accessible in a matter of
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speaking right anyone can access the
00:17:39
concept
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if they think about it right it's about
00:17:42
something that is
00:17:44
inter-subjective we say and i hesitate
00:17:46
even saying that because you're going to
00:17:47
hear the word subjective but
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no the inter means it's shared across uh
00:17:52
all people in in the shared
00:17:54
uh publicly accessible world
00:17:57
okay but but what about subjective
00:17:59
things
00:18:00
right what about preferences we
00:18:02
mentioned last time or what about
00:18:03
um you know personal values or things
00:18:06
like that
00:18:07
well there's this third type of claim
00:18:10
and i'll erase these two
00:18:14
because my board isn't big enough
00:18:16
unfortunately
00:18:21
and the third type of plane we could
00:18:22
just call
00:18:26
a value plan right
00:18:30
value claims are like i think
00:18:34
uh sushi is better than pizza or
00:18:38
you know the example i always use like
00:18:40
big e is better than tupac
00:18:42
or pink floyd is better than les
00:18:43
zeppelin or
00:18:46
you know uh
00:18:49
anything that has to do with
00:18:52
a value judgment a judgment about uh
00:18:55
what would we say
00:18:57
preference i think it's a good way of
00:18:58
putting it so
00:19:00
if we do ask the two questions what is
00:19:02
it about and how can it be verified
00:19:04
falsified
00:19:05
it's pretty interesting so the about
00:19:07
this we've already covered right
00:19:08
we say value claims are about
00:19:12
personal preferences
00:19:18
what about verification and
00:19:20
falsification well
00:19:22
they can't right they can't be
00:19:26
verified or falsified
00:19:37
why can't they be verified or falsified
00:19:40
well
00:19:40
because to be verified or falsified
00:19:43
means
00:19:45
to be confirmed as being actual or not
00:19:50
means to be true or not
00:19:53
but liking
00:19:57
a band more than another band is not
00:20:00
like
00:20:01
true or false it's just i i like this
00:20:03
thing better
00:20:04
right you could very well say no i uh i
00:20:07
think led zeppelin is better than
00:20:09
pink floyd and i would say well i think
00:20:11
you're wrong
00:20:12
but that's not a thing that's true or
00:20:16
not true
00:20:17
now of course things that start out as
00:20:20
value
00:20:20
claims can be made into objective claims
00:20:24
like let's say the conversation shifted
00:20:26
and
00:20:27
and i said you know pink floyd is better
00:20:30
than led zeppelin because
00:20:33
um they utilized
00:20:36
uh more production effects
00:20:40
and this was very innovative and spawned
00:20:44
uh different genres of music and
00:20:47
they sold more records and
00:20:50
the musical parts are more um
00:20:53
non-standard or something like that
00:20:57
all of those things are objective claims
00:20:59
like
00:21:00
use the number of production techniques
00:21:02
and we could like look at each one
00:21:03
sold more records um the music is not in
00:21:06
standard
00:21:07
like time signatures or something like
00:21:09
that those are all objective claims
00:21:12
so if i say those things
00:21:15
those are empirical claims that are
00:21:18
objective and are either true and or
00:21:19
false right
00:21:20
but the value comes in when i say and i
00:21:24
think those things are
00:21:25
better than whatever right
00:21:28
so a list of criteria is an objective
00:21:31
thing
00:21:32
but attaching value to a particular list
00:21:34
of criteria
00:21:36
um is when things get subjective right
00:21:38
so
00:21:39
at the end of the day we could say
00:21:43
and i hate this word but the value
00:21:45
claims are the opinion ones
00:21:46
right like in my opinion um
00:21:50
like i don't know reservoir dogs is a
00:21:52
better movie
00:21:54
than pulp fiction or something like that
00:21:56
right
00:21:57
um whereas the other things are not
00:21:58
opinion so to speak uh
00:22:01
i think that that's it for today so you
00:22:03
want to walk away
00:22:04
with a couple things you want to
00:22:06
remember that
00:22:07
there are different types of claims that
00:22:09
the type is determined by
00:22:11
what the claim is about and how one
00:22:14
would go about
00:22:16
verifying it or falsifying it you want
00:22:19
to know that there are
00:22:21
three types of claims the first two are
00:22:24
objective
00:22:25
the one is empirical the other is
00:22:28
rational
00:22:29
and you want to know what that means and
00:22:30
what examples of each are
00:22:32
and you all know that the third type of
00:22:34
claim is a value claim
00:22:36
that those are about personal
00:22:38
preferences and are more subjective so
00:22:40
like you can even question whether or
00:22:42
not they're claimed in the same way i
00:22:43
think i think that's fair they're more
00:22:45
gray
00:22:46
so i think that's it for today um this
00:22:49
was
00:22:49
definitely a shorter video than the last
00:22:51
one uh and i mentioned that's because
00:22:54
that stuff last time was so fundamental
00:22:56
and everything else is building on top
00:22:57
of that
00:22:58
so as always if you guys have any other
00:23:00
questions
00:23:01
email me or sign up for office hours
00:23:03
i'll see you around
