This search covers the following moments: (1) a constellation of argument models is presented, with the purpose of highlighting which characteristic of the debate they should be kept in mind when analyzing written texts or oral speeches in different activities of the daily life (2) the importance is described that have the controversies for the conceptual change and the epistemology (3) the above-mentioned is illustrated with a typical case of controversy in political economy, the debate on the challenges of the free trade (4) We elaborate an interpretation of the dualism explanation/understanding (Erklâren/Verstehen) in the social sciences, starting from the value given to the argumentation models and the controversies.