Richard L Epstein
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more. But then there may not have been more. Or aliens may have landed at that
intersection. The qualifiers "may" and "might" allow someone to suggest what
he's not willing to say. In a badly written history book you'll find those words
too often: "Thomas Jefferson may have thought that. . .".
Zoe (to her boss): I am truly sorry that it has taken so long for you to
understand what I have been saying.
Zoe isn't sorry at all. A weaseler is a claim that's qualified so much that the
apparent meaning is no longer there.
People also downplay by using quotes or a change in voice:
He got his "degree" from a beauty school.
The hidden claim is "A degree from a beauty school is not really something worth
calling a degree."
3. Where's the proof?
By now you must be convinced what a great textbook writer I am. It's obvious to
anyone. Of course, some people are a little slow. But surely you see it.
In the last paragraph I didn't prove that I was a great textbook writer, though I
made it sound as if I were proving something. I was just reiterating the claim, trying
to browbeat you into believing it with the words "obvious," "some people are a little
slow," "surely," "must be convinced."
Proof substitute A proof substitute is a word or phrase that suggests
the speaker has a proof, but no proof is actually offered.
When I was an undergraduate, I had a famous teacher for an upper-division
mathematics course, Professor Froelich. One day he wrote a claim on the board and
said, "So the following is obvious." Then he stopped and looked puzzled. He went
to the end of the blackboard and looked at the wall for a few minutes. Then he
returned and said, "Yes, it is obvious," and continued.
I always say I prefer a student who asks questions. It's better to be thought
dumb and learn something than to sit on your ignorance. If someone tells you it's
obvious, or conceals a lack of proof with flowery language, don't be cowed—ask for
the proof.
Ridicule, which we looked at before, is a particularly nasty form of proof
substitute: That's so obviously wrong it's laughable.
Rats can reason? Sure, and the next thing you know you'll be inviting
them over to play poker.
SECTION D Slanters and Good Arguments 185
No argument has been given for why rats can't reason.
Another way to conceal that you have no support for your claim is to shift the
burden of proof.
Zoe: Rats can reason.
Dick: You've got to be joking.
Zoe: O.K. then, mister smarty-pants, tell me why you think they can't.
The burden of proof is on the person putting forward the claim. The implausible
assumption here is "I don't have to support my assertions; you have to show why
they aren't true." This is a variation on the theme that whatever's plausible must be
true (Section D.2 of Chapter 5).
4. Innuendos
Any concealed claim is an innuendo. But usually we use that term for concealed
claims that are really unpleasant.
Zoe: Where are you from?
Harry: New York.
Zoe: Oh, I'm sorry.
Just to belabor the point, the concealed claim is "You deserve pity for having had to
live in New York." Innuendos imply nasty claims (Section D of Chapter 4), as
politicians know well: "I agree. My opponent is telling the truth this time."
D. Slanters and Good Arguments
You may be tempted to use slanters in your own writing. Don't. Slanters turn off
those you want to convince—you'll only be preaching to the converted. Worse,
though they may work for the moment, they don't stick. Without reinforcement, the
other person will remember only the joke or jibe. A good argument can last and
last—the other person can see the point clearly and reconstruct it. And if you use
slanters, your opponent can destroy your points not by facing your real argument but
by pointing out the slanters.
If you reason calmly and well you will earn the respect of the
other, and may learn that the other merits your respect, too.
When evaluating someone else's argument, acknowledge that he or she may
have been a bit emotional. Get rid of the noise—ignore the slanting, interpret the
claims neutrally, and see if there is a good argument.
If there are just too many slanters, though, used time and again, then it's clear
the other person can't or won't reason well. The Principle of Rational Discussion
doesn't apply.
186 CHAPTER 9 Concealed Claims
Summary The point is to recognize slanters. Labels and classifications like
"downplayer," "weaseler," or "innuendo" are aids to help you learn how to recognize that something bad is going on in an argument. Often not just one,
but two or more labels apply.
You know the material in this chapter when you can take an argument and
point out the concealed claims in it, rewriting to eliminate slanted language. The
labels are just shorthand for explanations you can give in your own words.
Key Words slanter downplayer weaseler
loaded question up-player proof substitute
euphemism hyperbole burden of proof
dysphemism qualifier innuendo
Exercises for Chapter 9
1. Come up with a loaded question you might pose to an instructor to try to make him or
her give you a better grade.
2. Give a loaded question you might ask a police officer who stops you.
3. Give an example of "politically correct" language and rephrase it in neutral language.
4. Give a euphemism and a dysphemism for each of the following. Be sure your word or
phrase can be used in a sentence in place of the original.
a. Used car. c. Mentally handicapped person.
b. Sexually explicit books. d. Unemployed person.
5. Find an example of a euphemism from a network news broadcast.
6. Find an example of a dysphemism from a network news broadcast.
7. Find an example of a downplayer. Say what the hidden claim is.
8. Find an example of hyperbole from a network news broadcast.
9. Typical proof substitutes are "obviously," and "everyone knows that. . .". List six more.
10. Find an example from another textbook in which it sounds like the author is giving
an argument, but there's really no proof.
11. Find an example from a political speech in which it sounds like the speaker is giving
an argument, but there's really no proof.
12. Write a neutral description of someone you know well, one that a third party could use to
recognize him or her. Now write a slanted version by replacing the neutral terms with
euphemisms or dysphemisms, adding downplayers or up-players.
13. Rewrite the following actual quotes in neutral language:
a. "Our operatives succeeded with the termination with extreme prejudice."
(Reported by the CIA)
b. "There was a premature impact of the aircraft with the terrain below."
(Announced by the FAA)
EXERCISES for Chapter 9 187
Say what, if anything, is wrong with the following. Make any concealed claim explicit.
14. Dick: That was really rotten, making me wait for an hour.
Zoe: I'm sorry you feel that way.
1 5 . 1 was only three miles over the speed limit, Officer.
16. Thousands of words from U.S. officials, it appears, have proved no match for the last
week's news, which produced a barrage of pictures of wounded Afghan children and of
Israeli tanks rolling into Palestinian villages.
"Talking heads just can't compete," a Western diplomat in Cairo said. "The images
touch emotions, and people in this part of the world react according to their emotions."
New York Times News Service, October 19, 2001
17. "In a way, we're a kind of a Peace Corps."
A training director of the Fort Bragg Green Beret Center, 1969
18. How many years in prison should someone get for sending a virus out on the Internet
that infects thousands of machines?
19. It seems fairly safe to assume that foreign-exchange dealers are human and hence more
intelligent than ants. We may occasionally have our doubts, but broadly speaking this is
true. Paul Ormerod, Butterfly Economics
20. U.S. Air Force Colonel David Opfer, air attache in Cambodia, complained to reporters
about their coverage of the Vietnam War, "You always write bombing, bombing,
bombing. It's not bombing; it's air support."
21. Did you hear that the lumber company is planning to cut down the forest?
22. Students should be required to wear uniforms in high schools. It has been well
documented that wearing uniforms reduces gang violence.
23. A book on Hopi prophecies by a former Lutheran minister [Rev. Thomas Mails] has
reignited a battle between tribal members and the author about the sanctity of his actions.
Mails claims he and Evehema recently deciphered a symbol on an ancient Hopi stone
tablet that revealed the next world war will be started by China at an undisclosed time.
" I f what they told me is true, it's the most important message in the world today,"
Mails said. Associated Press, September 30, 1996
24. Despite the fact that [Benjamin] Franklin was out of touch with the centers of European
thought, his ideas on electricity were truly original and fundamental.
Gordon S. Wood, The New York Review of Books, September 26, 2003
25. Maria: Wanda's so sad. It looks like she's in another bout of blues.
26. The gaming industry in Nevada recorded another record year of profits.
27. (In a review of a book that contains descriptions of leaders of the Soviet Union)
Even for politicians, they spend a disproportionate amount of their time drinking,
plotting, lying, swearing, and insulting one another.
Robert Cottrell, The New York Review of Books, May 1, 2003
188 CHAPTER 9 Concealed Claims
28. Manuel: Hey, Dr. E, I read in the New Scientist that in Queensland, Australia, you can
buy free-range eggs endorsed by the Australian humane society, where the
egg boxes say, "These eggs come from hens that are: Free from hunger and
thirst; Free from pain, injury and disease; Free from fear and distress; Free
from discomfort; Free to express themselves."
Dr. E: Great. I should apply for a job as a free-range hen.
29. "It's not a matter of life and death. It's more important than that."
Lou Duva on the fight of his boxer against Mike Tyson
30. The U.S. economy shed 1.4 million jobs over the 12 months ended in March.
USA Today, March 24, 2002
31. Tom: Hey, Dr. E, did you read in the newspaper what Madonna said after she had her
first child this week? "This is the greatest miracle that's ever happened to me."
Dr. E: The greatest miracle that ever happened to Madonna is that she had a career in
music.
32. Charles Barkley played for the Houston Rockets against the Utah Jazz in the 1997
NBA playoffs. Speaking before the Lakers' loss to the Jazz in those playoffs, he said,
"We're not like the Lakers. We try to use our brains."
33. That corporation wants to erect a hotel in an unspoiled wilderness area.
34. "We didn't turn him down. We didn't accept him." President of Springdale Country
Club (Princeton, N.J.), concerning an African-American applicant for membership.
35. (A written response by a female department chair to a male professor who complained
that she had interfered with the teaching of his course by giving a student a grade the
professor hadn't authorized without telling the professor)
I should have spoken to you before I took my action, and I apologize. I am an
inexperienced administrator, and also a woman who often doesn't "get" the
hierarchical, dominance-based way that males perceive situations.
Barbara Hannan
36. The proposed ban on bulk shipments [of tequila to the United States] would not take
place until January 2005, and Greisser said the year's delay was to provide Mexican
companies time to expand their bottling plants.
"This proposal could have a grave effect on consumers worldwide through higher
prices, fewer choices and the significant potential for serious product shortages," said
Peter Cressy, president of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
Albuquerque Journal, Sept. 26, 2003
37. In Pittsburgh, Steve Finley's sixth-inning homer struck a woman in a wheelchair located
behind a protective railing . . . .
Several fans rushed immediately to assist the woman in the right-field stands before
a paramedic arrived. She received several stitches in her head but otherwise was not
seriously injured. Associated Press, May 15, 2002
38. [Malcolm] Sharbutt [co-star of the current production and two-year veteran] attributes
the staying power [of the Vortex theater] to the plays on the program. "It's because we
EXERCISES for Chapter 9 189
offer a different venue than the other places in town," he says. "You can see 'Arsenic
and Old Lace' or a play by Neil Simon anywhere in town, but we're going to do plays
about junkies and rape and bad families. We try to keep it real."
Albuquerque Tribune, January 10, 2003
39. A ghost is a translucent being that lives in abandoned houses.
40. The United States has no plans at present for invading Cuba.
41. At last our government has decided to give compensation to the Japanese who were
resettled in internment camps during World War II.
42. Blondes aren't dumb— they're just slow
Berlin—Blonde women are not dumber than brunettes or redheads, a reassuring study
shows—they are just slower at processing information, take longer to react to stimuli
and tend to retain less information for a shorter period of time than other women.
"This should put an end to the insulting view that blondes are airheads," said Dr.
Andrea Stenner, a blonde sociologist who studied more than 3,000 women for her
doctoral research project. Weekly World News, October 15, 1996
43. On the day that Wislawa Symborski was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, there
were orders for 12,000 copies of her most recent book. Dori Weintraub, the publicist
for Symborski's American publisher, Harcourt Brace, said, "For a Polish poet, that's
not bad."
44. One injured in one-car rollover
A West Valley, Utah, woman was injured Sunday when she apparently fell asleep at the
wheel on Interstate 15.
Utah Highway Patrol dispatch reports that 18-year-old Jennifer Gustin was heading
north on 1-15 Sunday morning about 7:30 a.m. when she fell asleep at the wheel.
Gustin drifted off to the right and
then over-corrected to the left. The vehicle rolled
and then came to rest on its top in the median. Gustin was not wearing a seat belt and
was partially ejected from the vehicle.
UHP reports state she suffered from internal injuries.
She was taken to Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City following the accident
and was later transferred to Pioneer Valley hospital in West Valley, Utah.
Nancy Camarena, 19, also of West Valley, was in the car, but received no injuries
despite not wearing a seat belt. Tyson Hiatt! The Spectmm, April 30; X 996
45. The slayings of four Army wives at Fort Bragg in the past six weeks, all allegedly by
their husbands, has prompted the Army to re-evaluate the base's family counseling
program. . . .
"It's mind boggling," said Henry Berry, manager of family advocacy programs at
Fort Bragg. "To be absolutely honest, I was completely caught off guard. We're going
to look at these cases to prevent them from happening in the future." . . .
Until the recent murders, base officials said no domestic abuse deaths involving base
personnel had occurred in the past two years. Associated Press, July 27, 2002
190 CHAPTER 9 Concealed Claims
46. Long the subject of human rights criticism from the United States, China shot back today
with a rebuttal, saying the U.S. government continually denounces other nations while
"turning a blind eye to its own human-right-related problems." . ..
Among the report's many assertions, which it buttressed with a flurry of statistics:
• The United States is "wantonly infringing upon human rights of other countries"
with military and political actions.
• American mass media are "inundated with violent content," which in turn
encourages more violence. "A culture beautifying violence has made young people
believe that the gun can 'solve' all problems," the report says.
• Police brutality, torture and forced confession are common, and death row is full
of "misjudged or wronged" inmates. Prisons are overcrowded and inhumane.
• Americans living in poverty are "the forgotten 'third world' within this
superpower," and the gap between rich and poor is growing.
• Violence against women and sexual abuse of children are common.
Ted Anthony, Associated Press, March 11, 2002
Additional Exercises
47. Identify every slanter in the following letter to the editor, either eliminating it or