Module 3: More on Values, and Making Claims

This Module starts where the last one left off, with some more discussion of values, specifically, how values are at work in medicine, both from our perspective as patients, and from the perspective of medical care-givers. In this, we’ll explore a little further the idea of core values, i.e., those fundamental values that shape entire ethical outlook. We’ll then discuss claims, i.e., statements in which we assert that something is or is not the case. These are the building blocks of reasoning. We’ll look at claims we make when we are making assertions that are about or based on our values (evaluative claims) and those that are about the world independently of how we value it (non-evaluative claims). We will also single out from this latter category those claims we use to express the meaning of words or ideas (definitional claims), and talk about how important it is to be clear on such meanings.