What are concession and refutation?

While every essay needs to make an argument, at some point you need to acknowledge the other side. Acknowledging differing points of view on your topic is called concession. Making concessions is important because they show that you understand both sides of the issue.

But you should never make a concession without following it with a refutation. A refutation is where you prove the counter-arguments wrong or, at the very least, explain why you do not agree with it.

A few tips for using concession and refutation effectively:

  • Always summarize counter-arguments in a fair manner. Taking a cheap shot makes you look bad, not your opponent.
  • Get concessions out of the way as soon as possible. Leaving them to the end will weaken your own argument.
  • When refuting a counter-argument, back up your opinions with reliable evidence wherever possible.​
This video explains concession and refutation in more detail, and it provides some good examples of language you can use to make your concession and refutation more effective.

An example of how to use concession and refutation:

[CONCESSION] Over the years, many groups have argued that violent videogames have desensitized teens to real life violence making them more likely to be involved in fights, school shootings and other criminal activity. [REFUTATION] In my opinion, this stance fails to recognize an individual’s responsibility for their own behaviour and does not acknowledge that most teens are capable of telling the difference between right and wrong, reality and fantasy. When Grand Theft Auto IV, a notoriously violent videogame, was released, it sold 3.6 million copies in its first day of sales (Vella par. 2), but those sales were not met with a corresponding spike in the teen crime rate (Green par. 7). In fact, there is a far bigger connection between socio-economic status and crime than there is between violent videogames and crime (Miller 27).