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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.

Writing

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.

Speech

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]

Counterexample

The attempt to rebut an argument may involve generating a counter-argument or finding a counter-example.^[3]

Illustrative table

The table below presents counterexamples as a type of counterargument. The cells of the table are rebuttals to foreign policy position of the People's Republic of China.^[4] In the context of a disagreement about the sovereignty of a small group of islands in the East China Sea, the examples in the table are contradictions of a 2010 statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, who told reporters: :"The Diaoyu Islands [the Chinese name for these disputed islands] have always been Chinese territory since ancient times, and this is the fact that nobody can ever change. China owns indisputable sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands. The Chinese government’s will and determination to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity is firm and unshakable."^[5]

The examples in the table are insufficient to resolve the full array of underlying issues which are implicit in the spokeswoman's comments.^[6] That is conceptually different,^[7] because the scope of rebuttal is limited by the thesis or statement to which the counter-argument is a response.

Table: Senkaku Islands and Senkaku Islands dispute Japanese counter-arguments^[8]
Counterargument 1		Counterargument 2		Counterargument 3
Cited by MOFA at Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3		File:FAIRUSE Renmin Ribao 8Jan1953.jpg Cited by MOFA at Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3^[9]		Cited by MOFA at Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3


Support Statement	Type		Support Statement	Type		Support Statement	Type
Description of "the Senkaku Islands, Yaeyama District, Okinawa Prefecture, Empire of Japan" in the letter of appreciation dated May 1920 sent from the then consul of the Republic of China in Nagasaki concerning the distress which involved Chinese fishermen from Fujian Province around the Senkaku Islands.^[10]	Letter		Partial image of newspaper article: "Struggle of the people of the Ryukyu Islands against U.S. occupation" (琉球群岛人民反对美国占领的斗争), People's Daily (人民日報), January 8, 1953.^[10] NOTE: In second character cluster of the second line of the published text, see Japanese kanji* characters identifying Senkaku Islands (尖閣諸島, Senkaku Shotō)^[11]	Article		World Atlas published in China in 1960^[10] NOTE: At A, see Japanese kanji* characters identifying the Senkaku Islands (尖閣諸島, Senkaku Shotō); and at B, see maritime boundary between Taiwan and Japan	Map


Response 1		Response 2		Response 3
Rebuttal and refutation of Chinese irredentist statement, see MOFA at Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3^[10]		Rebuttal and refutation, see MOFA at Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3^[10]		Rebuttal and refutation, see MOFA at Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3^[10]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Zwiers, Jeff. (2008). Developing Academic Thinking Skills in Grades 6-12, p. 111., p. 111, at Google Books
^ ^a ^b Sprague, Jo et al. (2008). The Speaker's Handbook, p. 326., p. 326, at Google Books
^ Rahwan, Iyad et al. (2009). Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems, p. 186., p. 186, at Google Books
^ The positions of the parties in a dispute are noteworthy, but they must be clearly marked as such -- in this instance, the position of the Chinese, and a rebuttal using Chinese-published counterexamples.
^ Gertz, Bill. "Inside the Ring: China-Japan Tensions," Washington Times (US). September 15, 2010.
^ Compare venire contra factum proprium (No one may set himself in contradiction to his own previous conduct); and MOFA, Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4
^ MOFA, The Basic View on the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands
^ MOFA, Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4
^ In context of Chinese text, one crucial place name is printed in Japanese kanji -- Senkaku Shotō

琉球群島散佈在我國台灣東北和日本九洲島西南之間的海面上，包括尖閣諸島、先島諸島、大東諸島、冲繩諸島、大島諸島、土噶喇諸島，毎組都有許多大小島嶼、大隈諸島等七組島嶼，總計共有五十個以上有名稱的島嶼和四百多個無名小島，全部陸地面積爲四千六百七十平方公里。

Article in People's Daily, MOFA provisional translation of 1st paragraph: "The Ryukyu Islands lie scattered on the sea between the Northeast of Taiwan of our State (note: China; same in the following text) and the Southwest of Kyushu, Japan. They consist of 7 groups of islands; the Senkaku Islands, the Sakishima Islands, the Daito Islands, the Okinawa Islands, the Oshima Islands, the Tokara Islands and the Osumi Islands.... The Ryukyu Islands stretch over 1,000 kilometers, inside of which is our East China Sea (the East Sea in Chinese) and outside of which is the high seas of the Pacific Ocean."

↓

尖閣諸島 ..... Senkaku Shotō

↑

钓鱼台群岛 ..... simplified Chinese

釣魚台群島 ..... traditional Chinese
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f MOFA at Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3
^ See 4th page of the digitially archived copy of the People's Daily, 8 January 1953

References

Rahwan, Iyad and Pavlos Moraitis. (2009). Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems. Berlin: Springer. 10-ISBN 3642002064/13-ISBN 9783642002069; OCLC 496892202
Sprague, Jo and Douglas Stuart. (2008). The Speaker's Handbook. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 10-ISBN 0155831755/13-ISBN 9780155831759; OCLC 10795362
Zwiers, Jeff. (2004). Developing Academic Thinking Skills in Grades 6-12: a Handbook of Multiple Intelligence Activities. Newark, Deleware: International Reading Association. 10-ISBN 0872075575/13-ISBN 9780872075573; OCLC 300267606

External links

Harvard, counter-argument

This logic-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[zwiers111-1] Zwiers, Jeff. (2008). Developing Academic Thinking Skills in Grades 6-12, p. 111., p. 111, at Google Books

[sprague326-2] Sprague, Jo et al. (2008). The Speaker's Handbook, p. 326., p. 326, at Google Books

[3] Rahwan, Iyad et al. (2009). Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems, p. 186., p. 186, at Google Books

[4] The positions of the parties in a dispute are noteworthy, but they must be clearly marked as such -- in this instance, the position of the Chinese, and a rebuttal using Chinese-published counterexamples.

[5] Gertz, Bill. "Inside the Ring: China-Japan Tensions," Washington Times (US). September 15, 2010.

[6] Compare venire contra factum proprium (No one may set himself in contradiction to his own previous conduct); and MOFA, Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4

[7] MOFA, The Basic View on the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands

[8] MOFA, Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4

[9] In context of Chinese text, one crucial place name is printed in Japanese kanji -- Senkaku Shotō

琉球群島散佈在我國台灣東北和日本九洲島西南之間的海面上，包括尖閣諸島、先島諸島、大東諸島、冲繩諸島、大島諸島、土噶喇諸島，毎組都有許多大小島嶼、大隈諸島等七組島嶼，總計共有五十個以上有名稱的島嶼和四百多個無名小島，全部陸地面積爲四千六百七十平方公里。

Article in People's Daily, MOFA provisional translation of 1st paragraph: "The Ryukyu Islands lie scattered on the sea between the Northeast of Taiwan of our State (note: China; same in the following text) and the Southwest of Kyushu, Japan. They consist of 7 groups of islands; the Senkaku Islands, the Sakishima Islands, the Daito Islands, the Okinawa Islands, the Oshima Islands, the Tokara Islands and the Osumi Islands.... The Ryukyu Islands stretch over 1,000 kilometers, inside of which is our East China Sea (the East Sea in Chinese) and outside of which is the high seas of the Pacific Ocean."

↓

尖閣諸島 ..... Senkaku Shotō

↑

钓鱼台群岛 ..... simplified Chinese

釣魚台群島 ..... traditional Chinese

[mofa_q4_a4.3-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f MOFA at Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3

[11] See 4th page of the digitially archived copy of the People's Daily, 8 January 1953

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{under construction}}
 In [[reasoning]] and [[argument map|argument mapping]], a '''counterargument''', also known as a '''rebuttal''', is an '''[[objection (argument)|objection]] to an objection'''. A counterargument can be used to rebut an objection to a [[premise]], a [[main contention]] or a [[lemma (logic)|lemma]].  Other synonyms for such opposing reasons are counter-reasons or concessions.<ref name="zwiers111">Zwiers, Jeff. (2008). {{Google books||''Developing Academic Thinking Skills in Grades 6-12,'' p. 111.|page=111}}</ref>
@@ Line 80: / Line 82: @@
 ==Counterexample==
 The attempt to rebut an argument may involve generating a counter-argument or finding a  counter-example.<ref>Rahwan, Iyad ''et al.'' (2009). {{Google books|Lxvq99aEu54C|''Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems,'' p. 186.|page=186}}</ref>
+; Illustrative table
+The table below presents counterexamples as a type of counterargument.  The cells of the table are rebuttals to foreign policy position of the People's Republic of China.<ref>The positions of the
+parties in a dispute are noteworthy, but they must be clearly marked as such -- in this instance, the position of the Chinese, and a rebuttal using Chinese-published counterexamples.</ref>  In the context of a disagreement about the sovereignty of a small group of islands in the East China Sea, the examples in the table are contradictions of a 2010 statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, who told reporters: :"The Diaoyu Islands [the Chinese name for these disputed islands] have always been Chinese territory since ancient times, and this is the fact that nobody can ever change. China owns indisputable sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands. The Chinese government’s will and determination to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity is firm and unshakable."<ref>Gertz, Bill. [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/15/inside-the-ring-145889960/ "Inside the Ring: China-Japan Tensions,"] ''Washington Times'' (US). September 15, 2010.</ref>
+The examples in the table are insufficient to resolve the full array of underlying issues which are implicit in the spokeswoman's comments.<ref>Compare  [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/venire_contra_factum_proprium ''venire contra factum proprium''] (No one may set himself in contradiction to his own previous conduct); and MOFA, [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4]</ref>  That is conceptually different,<ref>MOFA, [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/senkaku.html  The Basic View on the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands]</ref> because the scope of rebuttal is limited by the thesis or statement to which the counter-argument is a response.
+{|  border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse"
+|-
+!colspan="6" |Table: [[Senkaku Islands]] and [[Senkaku Islands dispute]]<br>Japanese counter-arguments<ref> MOFA, [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4]</ref>
+|-
+!  width="33%" | Counterargument 1
+!  width="0.10%" |
+!  width="33%" | Counterargument 2
+!  width="0.10%" |
+!  width="34%" | Counterargument 3
+!  width="0.10%" |
+|-
+|[[File:Letter of thanks from ROC consul to Ishigakijima in 1920.jpg|thumb|center|120px|Cited by MOFA at [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3] ]]
+|
+|[[File:FAIRUSE Renmin Ribao 8Jan1953.jpg|thumb|center|120px|Cited by MOFA at [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3]<ref>In context of Chinese text, one crucial place name is printed in Japanese ''kanji'' -- ''Senkaku Shotō''<br>
+:琉球群島散佈在我國台灣東北和日本九洲島西南之間的海面上，包括 {{fontcolor|darkred|yellow|尖 閣 諸 島}} 、先島諸島、大東諸島、冲繩諸島、大島諸島、土噶喇諸島，毎組都有許多大小島嶼、大隈諸島等七組島嶼， 總計共有五十個以上有名稱的島嶼和四百多個無名小島， 全部 陸地面積爲四千六百七十平方公里。
+:Article in ''People's Daily'', MOFA provisional translation of 1st paragraph: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  "The Ryukyu Islands lie scattered on the sea between the Northeast of Taiwan of our State (note: China; same in the following text) and the Southwest of Kyushu, Japan. They consist of 7 groups of islands; the Senkaku Islands, the Sakishima Islands, the Daito Islands, the Okinawa Islands, the Oshima Islands, the Tokara Islands and the Osumi Islands.... The Ryukyu Islands stretch over 1,000 kilometers, inside of which is our East China Sea (the East Sea in Chinese) and outside of which is the high seas of the Pacific Ocean."]
+: ↓
+: {{fontcolor|darkred|yellow|尖 閣 諸 島}} ..... ''Senkaku Shotō''
+: ↑
+: 钓鱼台群岛 ..... simplified Chinese
+: 釣魚台群島 ..... traditional Chinese</ref> ]]
+|
+|[[File:Atlas 1960 Senkaku.jpg|thumb|center|120px|Cited by MOFA at [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3] ]]
+|
+|-
+|}
+{|  border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse"
+|-
+!colspan="9" |
+|-
+!  width="28%" | Support Statement
+!  width="5%"  | Type
+!  width="0%" |
+!  width="28%" | Support Statement
+!  width="5%"  | Type
+!  width="0%" |
+!  width="29%" | Support Statement
+!  width="5%"  | Type
+!  width="0%" |
+|-
+|Description of "the Senkaku Islands, Yaeyama District, Okinawa Prefecture, Empire of Japan" in the letter of appreciation dated May 1920 sent from the then consul of the Republic of China in Nagasaki concerning the distress which involved Chinese fishermen from Fujian Province around the Senkaku Islands.<ref name="mofa_q4_a4.3">MOFA at [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3]</ref>
+|Letter
+|
+|Partial image of newspaper article: "Struggle of the people of the Ryukyu Islands against U.S. occupation" (琉球群岛人民反对美国占领的斗争), People's Daily (人民日報), January 8, 1953.<ref name="mofa_q4_a4.3"/> <br/>*NOTE: In second character cluster of the second line of the published text, see Japanese ''[[kanji]]'' characters identifying {{nihongo|Senkaku Islands|{{fontcolor|darkred|yellow|尖 閣 諸 島}}| Senkaku Shotō}}<ref>See   [https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment?ui=2&ik=65c78a6116&view=att&th=12e03bd92672a2a1&attid=0.3&disp=inline&realattid=f_gjwc4n1o2&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P9kt6gEoPpJ95RTLX_1Pz_B&sadet=1298509457829&sads=y12W4fPGW22cveD3-sqqogm9668&sadssc=1  4th page of the digitially archived copy of the ''People's Daily'', 8 January 1953]</ref>
+|Article
+|
+|''World Atlas'' published in China in 1960<ref name="mofa_q4_a4.3"/> *NOTE: At <font color=darkred><b>A</b></font>, see Japanese ''[[kanji]]'' characters identifying the {{nihongo|Senkaku Islands|{{fontcolor|darkred|yellow|尖 閣 諸 島}}| Senkaku Shotō}}; and at <font color=darkred><b>B</b></font>, see [[maritime boundary]] between [[Taiwan]] and [[Japan]]
+|Map
+|
+|-
+|}
+{|  border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse"
+|-
+!colspan="6" |
+|-
+!  width="33%" | Response 1
+!  width="0%" |
+!  width="33%" | Response 2
+!  width="0%" |
+!  width="34%" | Response 3
+!  width="0%" |
+|-
+|Rebuttal and [[refutation]] of Chinese [[irredentist]] statement, see MOFA at [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3]<ref name="mofa_q4_a4.3"/>
+|
+|
+Rebuttal and refutation, see MOFA at [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3]<ref name="mofa_q4_a4.3"/>
+|
+|Rebuttal and refutation, see MOFA at [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html  Q&A, Senkaku Islands, Q4/A4.3]<ref name="mofa_q4_a4.3"/>
+|
+|-
+|}
 ==See also==