Your weekly logical fallacy: slippery slope

WEEEEEEEEeeeeee....... No wait I want to go again! I'm going to start with a simple problem and make it so much worse going downhill in this logical fallacy of a slippery slope!


You said that if we allow A to happen, then Z will eventually happen too, therefore A should not happen.


The problem with this reasoning is that it avoids engaging with the issue at hand, and instead shifts attention to extreme hypotheticals. Because no proof is presented to show that such extreme hypotheticals will in fact occur, this fallacy has the form of an appeal to emotion fallacy by leveraging fear. In effect the argument at hand is unfairly tainted by unsubstantiated conjecture.


Example: Your textile family asserts that if you are allowed to go nude where ever you want, then the next thing we know teen pregnancy will skyrocket by having so much access to bodies. All the way to being able to marry direct family members, vacuums, and even that very suggestive apple pie that has held your son's attention for so long!

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