Epstein further defines that:
All means "Every single one, no exceptions." Sometimes all is meant as "Every single one, and there is at least one." Which reading is best may depend on the argument.
Some means "At least one." Sometimes some is meant as "At least one, but not all." Which reading is best may depend on the argument.
No means "not even one," "every single one is not."
Only "Only S are P" means "All P are S."
There is another way to check the validity of these claims by using diagrams such as the "direct way of reasoning" and "arguing backwards" with "all" and "no" and "reasoning in a chain" with "all" and "some."
Remember that the contradictory of a general claim is "one that always has the opposite truth-value." For example, the contradictory of "All dogs bark." is "Some dogs don't bark."
Using the ALL word, my personal example is when I was on Facebook I noticed that a friend wrote a statement that said, "Higher learning is the absurd, perpetuation of lies and unfounded fantasies." For privacy reasons, I won't give my friend's name. But I thought that was a very stupid comment. In this case, the ALL definition used here is "Every single one, no exceptions." My friend is basically saying that ALL higher learning is this way. Any reasonable critical thinker would see that this is an invalid statement that falls on its face because it has nothing to support it. No legs, man, no legs!!
Hey there! I like this post very much! Great job on this assignment. I like the way you explain general claims in detail giving time to also explain the uses of "all", "some", "no", and "only". Good job citing your sources and using quotation marks. When I first read your first example, the one about the dogs, I was a bit confused as to how "some" is the contradictory to "all". As I read over it a few times it finally clicked and now I understand. Your other example, the one about college, is a good one too. Though I sometimes feel the same way as your friend, you are correct that this claim is referring to all higher education. Abd not all higher education is stupid. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jinxx, this was a really good blog for the class. It was a very thorough explanation, almost like I was reading this straight from the textbook! But again, you cited as necessary. Your personal example was also really good because it was different. Most examples our class use has very simple content for easy understanding. This one, on the other hand, was a little less straightforward (considering “higher learning is...” doesn’t have the word “all” in it) but it was a challenging assumption that provokes a little more thinking, and that’s necessary too. But yeah, no legs on that one haha.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of the comments above. The examples that are shown above is very useful. When using the all comment, that means that everyone is included without exception. All subjects are being used in the example, like the following: All Toyota vehicles are being recalled or All iPhone 4 are being recalled for hardware problems. When using some, that means at least one of the subject is included like some of the students at San Jose State University or some of the youth from New York. There are many ways to use all and some.
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