Arguable Topics Activity

“Hurricanes are increasing in number and ferocity.” I would not say this is worth arguing to a college audience because as long as a time frame for measurement (they get worse each year, each decade, etc.) and evidence is presented to show ferocity (category 1-5 hurricanes) this claim can easily be proven or disproven.

“Many people die annually of cancer.” The only part of this that I see could make an argument is the word “many”. It can mean different things to different people. Other than that, the deaths due to cancer can be proven with scientific evidence.

“Fewer people would die of heart disease each year if more of them paid attention to their diets.” This could easily be argued to a college audience because it could be argued that heart disease is caused by other factors that would kill people even if they maintained healthy diets.

“Japan might have come to terms more readily in 1945 if the Allies hadn’t demanded unconditional surrender.” This could be argued because there were so many factors in WWII that could have changed various circumstances, but no one knows for sure if they would have or not because all we know for certain is what did happen and what resulted from that. Anyone could make a claim that some unique factor could have changed the outcome of the war.

“Boys would do better in school if there were more men teaching in elementary and secondary classrooms.” This is definitely arguable because I’m sure there is factual evidence that supports this in some cases, but disproves it in others. This is especially controversial because it says “boys would do better” and not “boys might do better”. It is also arguable because people could raise the question, “what is ‘better’?”

“The ever-increasing number of minorities in higher education is evidence that racial problems have just about ended in the United States.” This topic is incredibly controversial and would be a strong arguable topic because some might agree with it because they would look back into history and compare racial problems then with now in relation to education, but others would look at racial problems outside of education.

“There aren’t enough high-paying jobs for college graduates these days.” This would be a good topic to argue because people would ask, “What is enough,” “What is high-paying,” and “By saying ‘college graduates, does it include graduates with all types of degrees, such as associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, etc. or does it refer to those with only certain types of degrees?” People would also make arguments relating to individual fields of study.

“Hydrogen may never be a viable alternative to fossil fuels because it takes too much energy to change hydrogen into a useable form.” This is easily arguable because it is a prediction on a scientific development in the future. Basically any statement that makes some sort of prediction about the future can be argued because it is not known for certain.

“Only one of the first forty-three presidents of the United States was a Catholic.” This could be argued because one could question what exactly Catholicism is, whether the presidents lied because of appearance, whether this refers to religion only while they were in office, whether any of them called themselves any other religion believing it to be true, but in reality practiced a religion closer to Catholicism than anything else, etc.

“Political activists have grossly exaggerated the effects of the USA Patriot Act on free expression.” This is politics. Politics can be argued anywhere by anyone at any time. There is so much controversy in politics, including this one sentence, that it would create a very strong debate when argued to college students or any number of other groups.