The road to ruin!
The slippery slope is an argument of bad logic. It uses the assumption that if a situation is left alone, it will become worse. The poor logic of a slippery slope is created because guessing, projection, and simple-mindedness replaces research and non-biased thinking to come to the final (supposed) outcome.
Table of Contents
Author's Note
The slippery slope theory is one that I hear often and one that is easily avoidable. I hope to present the basic to allow the reader to recognize a slippery slope theory and to avoid using it as an argument.
Keep in mind that the slippery slope argument is not always a logical fallacy (bad logic). When facts and non-biased conclusions support a slippery slope, it is not fallacious.
Keep in mind that the slippery slope argument is not always a logical fallacy (bad logic). When facts and non-biased conclusions support a slippery slope, it is not fallacious.
General Definitions
- In debate or rhetoric, the slippery slope is an argument for the likelihood of one event or trend given another. It suggests that an action will initiate a chain of events culminating in an undesirable event later. The argument is sometimes referred to as the thin end of the wedge or the camel's nose.[1]
- The Slippery Slope is a fallacy in which a person asserts that some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question. In most cases, there are a series of steps or gradations between one event and the one in question and no reason is given as to why the intervening steps or gradations will simply be bypassed. [2]
Useful Links
- Taxonomy of Logical Fallacies
- A taxonomic (categorized) list of logical fallacies from Fallacy Files. It is useful to me to see how different fallacies relate to each other.
- Wikipedia List of Fallacies
- An extensive list of logical fallacies.
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References
Citations and Sources
1. ^ Slippery slope. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 11 May 2008.
2. ^ Fallacy: Slippery Slope. Nizkor Project Fallacies. Retrieved on 11 May 2008.
2. ^ Fallacy: Slippery Slope. Nizkor Project Fallacies. Retrieved on 11 May 2008.
