When you write an academic essay, you create an argument: you present a thesis and provide reasons, supported by evidence, as to why the thesis is correct. You evaluate a possible argument against your thesis or some part of your reasoning when you counter-argue. The term "counter" here means simply an answer or rebuttal; it does not mean the same thing as a "counterargument". If someone argues that dogs are man's best friend, you could say that animals are not a good replacement for human friends because they cannot give advice or share secrets. This would be a counter-argument to the original argument. Writers use counters to answer objections to their ideas, to explain why their evidence is reliable, and so on. For example, if someone argued that society should be nice to animals because they feel pain when you harm them, this could be answered by saying that this does not justify harming others. Or perhaps some evidence can be given to show that animals do not feel pain - in which case the counter-argument would be used instead. There are two types of counter-argument: direct and indirect. With a direct counter-argument, the writer states their own view directly opposed to the original argument.