Evaluate counterclaims
Key notes :
When you’re writing an argument, you want to consider how someone might argue against your claim. Arguments against your claim are called counterclaims, or counterarguments. Acknowledging counterclaims makes you appear more fair and balanced as a writer, and refuting counterclaims strengthens your argument.
You don’t need to address every possible counterclaim that you can think of while writing. Instead, you should decide which counterclaims are the strongest and address those. Strong counterclaims directly address a claim without making any exaggerations; they provide logical reasons why someone might object to the claim. For instance, consider the following claim:
Super strength would make a better superpower than being able to fly.
This would be a strong counterclaim:
✔ While super strength would only be useful occasionally, flying would make your daily life easier.
In contrast, these would not be strong counterclaims:
x Many popular superheroes in films and on television are able to fly. This counterclaim does not directly address the claim. The claim is about which superpower is better, not which superpowers are used by popular superheroes.
x Super strength would cause you to hurt everyone around you, since you would always hug or shake hands too hard. This counterclaim is an exaggeration. Having super strength would not necessarily cause you to harm everyone by always giving crushing hugs and handshakes.
x With the ability to fly, you would have to wear special goggles to protect your eyes. This counterclaim uses faulty reasoning. It actually presents a reason why being able to fly is worse, not better, than super strength.
Learn with an example
➡️ Consider this claim:
Snakes make great pets because they are clean, low-maintenance animals.
Now consider how someone might argue against this.
Which sentence presents the stronger and more reasonable counterclaim to the above claim?
- Snakes are too dangerous to keep as pets because cobras and rattlesnakes have deadly, venomous bites.
- Snakes do not make good pets because they do not form strong emotional bonds with people the way dogs and cats do.
Consider the claim:
Snakes make great pets because they are clean, low-maintenance animals.
This is a strong counterclaim since it offers a reasonable challenge to the claim:
✔ Snakes do not make good pets because they do not form strong emotional bonds with people the way dogs and cats do.
This is not a strong counterclaim:
x Snakes are too dangerous to keep as pets because cobras and rattlesnakes have deadly, venomous bites. This counterclaim uses faulty reasoning. It incorrectly asserts that because certain types of snake are dangerous, all snakes make bad pets.
➡️ Consider this claim:
Breakfast is the best meal of the day because it’s a no-fuss meal that people can make easily and quickly.
Now consider how someone might argue against this.
Which sentence presents the stronger and more reasonable counterclaim to the above claim?
- Dinner is the best meal of the day because people can take the time to make it special and savour it at the table with family or friends.
- Dinner is the best meal of the day because it has become more acceptable to have breakfast foods like pancakes, eggs and waffles for dinner.
Consider the claim:
Breakfast is the best meal of the day because it’s a no-fuss meal that people can make easily and quickly.
This is a strong counterclaim since it offers a reasonable challenge to the claim:
✔ Dinner is the best meal of the day because people can take the time to make it special and savour it at the table with family or friends.
This is not a strong counterclaim:
x Dinner is the best meal of the day because it has become more acceptable to have breakfast foods like pancakes, eggs and waffles for dinner. This counterclaim uses faulty reasoning. The idea that eating breakfast foods makes dinner the best meal of the day actually supports the claim that breakfast is the best meal.
➡️ Consider this claim:
A ‘staycation’—a stay-at-home holiday from school or work—is more fun and relaxing than a typical holiday away from home.
Now consider how someone might argue against this.
Which sentence presents the stronger and more reasonable counterclaim to the above claim?
- If you stay at home instead of going away, you could easily end up spending your ‘holiday’ doing housework.
- There are plenty of charming, out-of-the-way places that you can easily get to by car if you don’t want to fly somewhere.
Consider the claim:
A ‘staycation’—a stay-at-home holiday from school or work—is more fun and relaxing than a typical holiday away from home.
This is a strong counterclaim since it offers a reasonable challenge to the claim:
✔ If you stay at home instead of going away, you could easily end up spending your ‘holiday’ doing housework.
This is not a strong counterclaim:
x There are plenty of charming, out-of-the-way places that you can easily get to by car if you don’t want to fly somewhere. This counterclaim does not directly address the claim. The claim is about whether staycations are better than travelling, not about whether driving is better than flying.
let’s practice!
