In reasoning and argument mapping, a counterargument, also known as a rebuttal, is an objection to an objection. A counterargument can be used to rebut an objection to a premise, a main contention or a lemma. Other synonyms for such opposing reasons are counter-reasons or concessions.[1]
A counterargument might seek to cast doubt on facts of one or more of the first argument's premises, or to show that the first argument's contention does not follow from its premises in a valid manner, or the counterargument might pay little attention to the premises and common structure of the first argument and simply attempt to demonstrate the truth of a conclusion incompatible with that of the first argument.
Contents |
To speak of counterarguments is not to assume that there are only two sides to a given issue nor that there is only one types of counter-argument.[1]
| Table: Parsing multiple counter-arguments[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counterargument 1 | Counterargument 2 | Counterargument 3 | |||
| . | . | . | |||
| Support Statement | Type | Support Statement | Type | Support Statement | Type | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | . | . | . | . | . | |||
| Response 1 | Response 2 | Response 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | . | . | |||
For a given argument, there is often a large number of counterarguments, some of which are not compatible with each other.
In a debate or in a speaking context, a counter-argument can be handled in a variety of ways.[2]
Responding to a counterargument does not mean utterly obliterating it. You may concede it, minimize it, dismiss it as irrelevant, or attack the supporting evidence or underlying premise. Even if you grant the existence of a problem, you can differ from your audience on the best solution.[2]
The attempt to rebut an argument may involve generating a counter-argument or finding a counter-example.[3]