Chapter 8

I learned a few different things from Chapter 8 from the “Critical Thinking” text which talked about General Claims. One thing I learned was that there are key words involved when dealing with claims and their contradictories. The key words are; all, some, no, and only. An example that uses “all” is; "All animals can swim."Its contradictory would be; "Some animals can swim." An example using some is; "Some birds can swim." Its contradictory would be; No birds can swim. An example using No is; No women play hockey. A contradictory would be; "Some women play hockey." An example for only is; "Only Russians like vodka." A contradictory would be; Some Russians don’t like vodka. Another concept I learned about was precise generalities. In the text it states that, “If the percentages are very high or very low, though, we can get a strong argument, assuming we know nothing more about the people or things involved.” An example of a precise generalization is; “27 out of 30 people who take the Alabama driving test passes. Cheryl took the Alabama driving test. So Cheryl passed the Alabama driving test. In this case, the percentage of passing is very high; therefore, it is a strong argument to say that Cheryl passed.