2.11 Tutorial: Identifying Descriptive and Evaluative Statements—Four Basic Patterns

Recall from the text that a descriptive statement aims only at describing some aspect of the world, whereas an evaluative statement aims at judging some thing or situation. The two basic forms of descriptive statement are statements that aim to convey some information about the physical world, while others aim to convey information about peoples feeling about the world—their beliefs, emotions or sensations. These are mental aspects of reality. The two basic forms of evaluative statement are statements that judge aesthetic worth of things, versus those that judge the moral aspect of things.

For each of the following, determine which of the four forms it is: Descriptive/Physical; Descriptive/Mental; Evaluative/Aesthetic; and Evaluative/Moral.