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Just because the slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy doesn’t mean we can’t use our minds to foresee possible next steps.

by whall6 5y ago

AbrahamParangi 5y ago
The slippery slope argument isn't even really a logical fallacy. In fact, I can think of a number of circumstances where it turned out to be true. edit: here's an example of the slippery slope "fallacy" in action "First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist."
- zepto 5y ago
  It is a logical fallacy in that the consequences do not logically follow from the proposition. However that doesn’t say anything about whether they are likely to follow in practice, only that there is no logical proof that they follow. In this case, the arguments against this mechanism are generatly slippery slope arguments - logic doesn’t guarantee the bad outcomes. However it’s quite reasonable to be concerned that the bad outcomes will happen because of the actors involved.
- anm89 5y ago
  Not only is it 'not really' a logical fallacy, it really is not a logical fallacy. Check my post on the parent for references.
- pbhjpbhj 5y ago
  >isn't even really a logical fallacy. In fact, I can think of a number of circumstances where it turned out to be true. This represents a very common misunderstanding of fallacies, IIRC it's called the Fallacy Fallacy: fallacies don't give you any information about the truth of the conclusion, they only indicate that the logic that ties that conclusion to the premises is unsound. So "slippery slope fallacy" means "worse things don't logical follow in increments from better things" but that doesn't mean that in any real situation "worse things follow in increments from better things" is not true. The most common example of this misunderstanding is probably Occam's Razor, it says nothing about whether things are or aren't more complex in any real situation, only that it's easy to reason about things if you don't add additional aspects that aren't needed.
anm89 5y ago
I'm surprised to hear this falsehood being repeated here. There is nothing inherently fallacious about slippery slope arguments. Like almost all rhetorical tactics they can be used fallaciously. The fact that slippery slope is not inherently fallacious is very well documented in the academic literature on rhetoric. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html

Just because the slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy doesn’t mean we can’t use our minds to foresee possible next steps.

by whall6 5y ago

Just because the slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy doesn’t mean we can’t use our minds to foresee possible next steps.

AbrahamParangi 5y ago

The slippery slope argument isn't even really a logical fallacy. In fact, I can think of a number of circumstances where it turned out to be true. edit: here's an example of the slippery slope "fallacy" in action "First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist."

zepto 5y ago
It is a logical fallacy in that the consequences do not logically follow from the proposition. However that doesn’t say anything about whether they are likely to follow in practice, only that there is no logical proof that they follow. In this case, the arguments against this mechanism are generatly slippery slope arguments - logic doesn’t guarantee the bad outcomes. However it’s quite reasonable to be concerned that the bad outcomes will happen because of the actors involved.
anm89 5y ago
Not only is it 'not really' a logical fallacy, it really is not a logical fallacy. Check my post on the parent for references.
pbhjpbhj 5y ago
>isn't even really a logical fallacy. In fact, I can think of a number of circumstances where it turned out to be true. This represents a very common misunderstanding of fallacies, IIRC it's called the Fallacy Fallacy: fallacies don't give you any information about the truth of the conclusion, they only indicate that the logic that ties that conclusion to the premises is unsound. So "slippery slope fallacy" means "worse things don't logical follow in increments from better things" but that doesn't mean that in any real situation "worse things follow in increments from better things" is not true. The most common example of this misunderstanding is probably Occam's Razor, it says nothing about whether things are or aren't more complex in any real situation, only that it's easy to reason about things if you don't add additional aspects that aren't needed.

anm89 5y ago

I'm surprised to hear this falsehood being repeated here. There is nothing inherently fallacious about slippery slope arguments. Like almost all rhetorical tactics they can be used fallaciously. The fact that slippery slope is not inherently fallacious is very well documented in the academic literature on rhetoric. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html