Controversy

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A controversy is a contentious dispute, a disagreement over which parties are actively arguing. Controversies can range from private disputes between two individuals to large-scale social upheavals. It is the nature of controversies that they cannot be conclusively settled and may be accompanied by the disruption of peace and even quarreling. In some cases, this may be because what are putatively the two sides to a dispute aren't having the same argument.

Present day subjects of controversy include abortion, homosexuality, nudity, and pornography.

In law

In jurisprudence, a controversy differs from a case, which includes all suits criminal as well as civil; a controversy is a purely civil proceeding. In the Constitution of the United States, the judicial power shall extend to controversies to which the United States shall be a party (Article 2, Section 1). The meaning to be attached to the word controversy in the constitution is that given above.

In propaganda

The term is not always used in a purely descriptive way. The use of the word tends itself to create controversy where none may have authentically existed, acting as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Propagandists, therefore, may employ it as a "tar-brush," pejoratively, and thus create a perceived atmosphere of controversy, discrediting the subject:

"Beatrix Potter's creation, Peter Rabbit..."

vs.

"Beatrix Potter's controversial creation, Peter Rabbit..."

Thus controversy may itself be judged controversial.

In advertising

On the other hand, controversy is also used in advertising to try to draw attention to a product or idea by labeling it as controversial, even if the idea has become widely accepted to a given segment of the population. This strategy has been known to be especially successful in promoting books and films.

See also: Succès de scandale.

In early Christianity

Many of the early Christian writers, among them Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Jerome, were famed as "controversialists"; they wrote works against perceived heresy or heretical individuals, works whose titles begin "Adversus..." such as Irenaeus' Adversus haeresis. The Christian writers inherited from the classical rhetors the conviction that controversial confrontations, even over trivial matters, were a demonstration of intellectual superiority.

simple:Dispute