Claim: The best test of an argument is its ability to convince someone with an opposing viewpoint.Reason: Only by being forced to defend an idea against the doubts and contrasting views of others does one really discover the value of that idea.Write a res

It is debatable whether an argument's ability to persuade others with adverse opinions is the optimal way to evaluate the value of the claim. Although such ability implies the defensibility of the idea, there are some reasons that the test is not always the best option.

To begin with, not being able to convince the opposing viewpoint does not equate with the devaluation of an opinion. There are numerous controversial issues existing in this present day and age, which means, one idea fails to override the other. Take abortion as an example. With ethical issues and a lot of philosophical reasons affiliated, it is hard to tell which side is an explicitly right choice: saving the baby, or not preserving the baby. Both viewpoints have not succeeded in persuading the opposing claim, thus failing to meet consensus even after a long period of debate. Thus, especially in controversial issues, if every argument is convincing, it is often impossible to have one dominant idea that convinced all others; however, this does not mean every claim of the issue is erroneous.

Furthermore, assessing an argument based on its ability to convince the opponents is still a good test, but not the best test since it does not work in every cases in addition to the example mentioned above. Sometimes, people do not alter their thoughts even if one idea is an overtly right idea. Take women's suffrage as instances. Before 19th amendment passed the law of women's right to vote, both men and women were aware of the fact that bestowing women a right to vote is a rightful choice. However, men with power refused the idea for the entire history before then due to their greed. This certainly does not mean women's suffrage was worthless, but became valuable after the 19th amendment. This is only one example and there are a myriad of cases where the right viewpoint is overlooked, which corroborates the contention that such test is not the best test to measure the value of an argument.

In sum, because of aforementioned reasons, whether a contention can persuade an opposing argument is not the best asset of a claim. Admittedly, there are not a lot of tests that are better than the mentioned test. Nevertheless, people ought to find different ways to assess a claim in order to make the optimal decision by avoiding biasedness and pursuing what is right.