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Slippery Slope Fallacies in Modern Politics
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Slippery Slope Fallacies IN POLITICS
Paloma, Omar, Raquel, and Rakel
What is a
slippery slope fallacy?
Taking minor action will lead to extreme consequences.
Example: "We need to stop colleges from raising tuition every year. Next thing you know, a semester's tuition will cost more than a house."
(but really though)
How does this relate to politics?
WHAT
Politicians use different types of fallacies in arguments, but slippery slope seems to be a crowd favorite.
Why?
It helps them gain favor/influence people's vote.
How?
Appeal to emotion overshadows appeal to logic.
Dangers
This is dangerous because...
- Exaggerating/falsifying data, statistics and facts leads to the public being misinformed.
- It veils the true intentions of the politicians in question.
- It can be, and is often, used as derogatory rhetoric towards another person or group of people.
Dangerous
slippery slope fallacies
in the trump administration
IQ
There are many, but these three examples are crucial to analyze at this time.
- Reproductive Rights
- Views on Immigration
- Kavanaugh and Men Being Falsely Accused of Sexual Assault
REproductive Rights
The Fallacy Statements:
- "Right now in a number of states, the laws allow a baby to be born from its mother's womb in the ninth month." (President Trump at the 2018 March For Life)
- "If Americans condone abortion, then could the next step be killing people at the ends of their lives for the sake of convenience?" (Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee at the Republican National Convention)
IDEAS
Why its dangerous
- Appealing to emotion by offering extreme analogies and consequences, associating abortion with murder.
- Falsifying facts and law aimed at misinforming the public. (Assuming Trump meant some states allow ninth month abortions, that is false. It is only an option in critical or fatal situations.)
Views on Immigration
- The Fallacy Statements
- "We are not loved by Muslims." (Donald Trump's response when asked by MSNBC if he believes Islam is an inherently peaceful or violent religion.)
- "These aren't people, these are animals." "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." (Donald Trump at 2015 White House meeting.)
- uses derogatory rhetoric to generalize the stigma of a small group to an entire population.
- uses fear-mongering terms (criminals, rapists, animals) to appeal to emotion.
why its dangerous
kavanaugh:
Men being falsely accused of sexual assault
The Fallacy Statement: For this one, we chose to show the Moms For Kavanaugh adverstisement.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUnOSzCYC68
- Appeals to emotion (Fear, love, relatable)
- uses fear mongering terms ("It can happen to your son, too.")
why its dangerous
how to be aware of slippery slope fallacies in politics
- Watch for derogatory terminology.
- Research the given/supposed statistics and information before being completely convinced of it.
- Watch for rhetoric that appeals to emotion rather than based on logical premises.
- Do not assume that the extreme outcomes are the only, or likely, outcomes.