What\u2019s a Slippery Slope argument?<\/h3>\n
A\u00a0slippery slope<\/em> argument claims\u00a0that some kind of inevitable progression will result from taking a given undesirable first step. \u00a0By doing _____, you are stepping off solid ground and are sure to fall into the pit where disaster awaits. \u00a0Your cute little snowball is going to be an avalanche before everything is over. \u00a0A<\/em> leads to B<\/em> which leads to C<\/em> which leads to D<\/em> which leads to the unspeakable outcome that is what happens when you make that carefree fatal step of doing\u00a0A.<\/em><\/p>\n Most of us are familiar with slippery slope arguments, and there\u2019s good reason for that, which I\u2019ll explain in a minute. \u00a0Meanwhile: When is the slippery slope an error?<\/p>\n It is an error to invoke the slippery slope when in fact there is no such inevitable progression to fear.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take yesterday\u2019s discussion<\/a> of policies concerning admitting refugees from enemy countries and create a couple fake slippery-slope fallacies.<\/p>\n Fake Argument #1:<\/strong> \u00a0\u201cYou are proposing to allow some refugees from enemy countries to come to the United States. \u00a0If you do that, next thing we\u2019ll be letting in more and more such persons, with fewer and fewer background checks, until finally ISIS can just demand free billboard space on all our interstates.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a fallacy because it claims there exists a progression in which allowing some immigrants necessarily will lead to a loosening of restrictions to the point that all we hold sacred and dear will be destroyed. \u00a0If someone were to make such an argument, I maintain it would be a slippery slope\u00a0fallacy<\/em> because variations in immigration law don\u2019t, to my knowledge, follow such natural progressions.<\/p>\n Fake Argument Argument #2: \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cYou are proposing that we place restrictions on who can and cannot enter our country. \u00a0Once you start with a few limits and background checks, over time they will just get stricter and stricter, until our borders are completely closed, even to the naive\u00a0but well-funded foreign tourists who\u00a0keep alive the billboard industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, this is a fallacious argument because it presumes that some restrictions on immigration will cause a series of progressively stricter laws to be enacted.<\/p>\n We can say that the invocation of the slippery slope is a fallacy\u00a0when it describes something that is not a real slippery slope.<\/em> \u00a0Taking up cigarette smoking doesn\u2019t inevitably lead to over-consumption of diet cola. \u00a0Shopping at Dillard\u2019s won\u2019t invariably cause your daughter to join a sorority one day. \u00a0One might notice an apparent correlation, but there is not in fact a path of peril leading from point A to point B.<\/p>\n The slippery slope is an appealing argument because we experience slippery-slope type events in our daily lives.<\/p>\n Some of these are related to individual circumstances.<\/strong> \u00a0There do exist people who find that once they have the first drink, they will end up getting drunk. \u00a0It would be a fallacy to create a universal generalization (not everyone who drinks does so immoderately), but it would accurate to apply the slippery-slope warning to the individuals for whom this is a real hazard.<\/p>\n Some slippery-slopes are more related to general human weakness. \u00a0<\/strong>Once you let someone drop their mail on the kitchen counter, then follows the keys and the bookbag and the science project and the baby\u2019s pyjamas. \u00a0You let the kids stay up late\u00a0this one time<\/em> and you\u2019ll never get them to bed without a fight again. \u00a0Break the diet once, and next thing you know you\u2019ll be back to living off Cheetos and Ovaltine.<\/p>\n These latter situations aren\u2019t hard and fast laws, but they resonate because we\u2019re aware of the way we tend to get sucked into this or that vortex of irresponsibility.<\/p>\n There are some well-known cases of slippery-slope arguments that proved true in ways that give pause. \u00a0We can read Humanae Vitae<\/em><\/a> and see that what the encyclical predicted did in fact come true. \u00a0I would be curious to know if anyone can identify a counter-example; I\u2019m not aware of any.<\/p>\n There are other topics where the slippery-slope argument can be offered in a moderated way. \u00a0Arguments in defense of civil liberties can typically point to historical instances when the infringing of one right led to the eventual loss of much more. \u00a0If you\u2019re looking for medical examples and can\u2019t resist gawking at a fight, read up on natural childbirth and the hazards of unnecessary interventions\u2013though\u00a0be warned that bear-baiting and cock-fighting are more genteel.<\/p>\n In both these cases and others like them, very few will hold to an absolute position. \u00a0We\u00a0can<\/em> think of situations in which, say, a government evoked emergency powers and totalitarianism did not ensue; even those who warn most stridently against unnecessary medical interventions are generally in favor of their use when truly indicated.<\/p>\n Additionally, because situations involving human beings are often complex, we might invoke what seems to be evidence of a slippery slope while acknowledging that other factors also have a bearing on the outcome.<\/p>\n Thus in debate we might see what might be considered a legitimate use of a slope-type reasoning, in combination with other arguments. \u00a0The worthy opponent will then have to resist the urge to create a straw man. \u00a0It\u2019s tempting to argue against the cliff when our friend is only speaking of a hill.<\/p>\n Photo:\u00a0The cliffs of\u00a0<\/span>Bonifacio<\/a>, Corsica, France, with the rock so-called the\u00a0<\/span>Grain de sable\u00a0(the \u201cGrain of sand\u201d)\u00a0by<\/span>: Myrabella, via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over at the new FB group for readers of this blog, a couple guys have made tentative stabs at the slippery slope fallacy \u00a0discussion question. For those who are scratching heads, here\u2019s a quick rundown of what the fallacy is and what it isn\u2019t, and how to tell whether the slope you\u2019re standing on is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[216,466],"tags":[467,470,469,468],"class_list":["post-4479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-its-all-catholic","category-thinking-topics","tag-debate","tag-discussion-group","tag-slippery-slope-fallacy","tag-straw-man-fallacy"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s a Slippery Slope fallacy<\/i>?<\/h3>\n
When is the Slippery Slope real?<\/h3>\n
Slippery Slopes with Serious Consequences<\/h2>\n
![\"File:Bonifacio](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/de\/Bonifacio_falaises_Grain_de_Sable.jpg\/756px-Bonifacio_falaises_Grain_de_Sable.jpg\")
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