Dear Avram,
I meant any halachic discussion to clarify a new doubt. Especially among the great poskim. Think of one of the classical debates. Or one of the recent halachah headlines. There is an undeniable element of controversy to them.
I liked the quote from Rav Solovietchik. It means that halachah as both a process and a system leaves no room for strong political or fundamentalist thinking to play a role. Halachah has to rise above whatever we want the outcome to be. If this topic is not halachah per se, it still has a lot to impart on what we think of the halachah.