Descriptive and Prescriptive Claims

In chapter 2, Epstein distinguishes between descriptive and prescriptive claims.  “A claim is descriptive if it says what is.  A claim is prescriptive if it says what should be” (Epstein, 24).  To elaborate, descriptive claims portray and illustrate what something or someone is.  Also, prescriptive claims are based more on opinions than facts.

For example, I could say, “The unemployment rate of California is the highest of any state in the United States.”  This is a descriptive claim, even if it is not true.  On the other hand, I may say, “California should be the state with the lowest unemployment rate in the United States.”  Since this is more of an opinion, this claim is a prescriptive one. 

In this chapter, we studied vague sentences, subjective and objective claims, definitions, value judgments, and prescriptive and descriptive claims.  These classifications of claims are crucial to understand in order to succeed in this course.

Vague and Ambiguous Sentences

Epstein defines a vague sentence at the beginning of chapter 2.  “A sentence is vague if there are so many ways to understand it that we can’t settle on one of those without the speaker making it clearer” (Epstein, 14).  In our society we make vague statements far too often.  Many times we have to ask the speaker to make clarifications if possible.

I am reminded of when my friend and I were talking about the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  “Which one was Geoffrey Rush?” my friend asks.  “He was that one crazy pirate,” I explain.  “Who?  Jack Sparrow?” he replies.  I was being too vague in my statement.

If I had said that he was the captain of the Black Pearl besides Jack Sparrow, then it would have been clearer.  However, seeing how you look at it from a technical standpoint, there were multiple captains for the Black Pearl through the series.  At least my friend would have a narrower view of whom I was talking about.

“A special case of vagueness is when there are just two, or a very few, obvious ways that a sentence could be understood as a claim” (Epstein, 16).  In this case, my “captain besides Jack Sparrow” comment would count as an ambiguous sentence.  The main thing to remember from this section is to always be as clear as possible, or necessary, when making claims.

Subjective and Objective Claims

Epstein distinguishes the difference between subjective and objective claims.  “A claim is subjective if whether it is true or false depends on what someone (or something or some group) thinks, believes, or feels.  A subjective claim invokes personal standards, [while] an objective claim invokes impersonal standards.”  (Epstein, p. 20)

I am reminded of last week, when my little brother hurt his ankle.  Apparently two fourth-graders in his class were fighting, and one pushed the other down onto my brother’s ankle.  It just so happened that the kid that fell down was the overweight student in the class. 

My brother’s friend described the overweight child’s appearance in a rather negative manner.  “Nick is the fattest kid in the school.”  The term “fat” can be defined in many different ways, both literally and culturally.  In our society, fat can be put into context of attractiveness as well as a measurement for obesity.  In this case, my brother’s friend is most likely making an opinionated statement about Nick’s attractiveness.  Therefore, his claim is probably a subjective one.

According to Epstein, if a claim is not subjective, then it is objective.  That means it should not be based on someone’s opinion.  I recall how much my little brother loves watermelon.  “Everyday after school my brother eats at least one slice of watermelon.”  This statement is a fact and is not based on my opinion.  He actually eats watermelon after school.  This is an objective claim.

One must be careful when trying to distinguish between subjective and objective claims.  A factual statement can turn into an opinionated statement rather easily.  If I were to say “my brother loves watermelon,” that would actually be a subjective claim.  It is clear that differentiating between the two will be essential in this course.

-ABC