appeal to ridicule

Information about appeal to ridicule

Appeal to ridicule, also called the Horse Laugh[1], is a logical fallacy which presents the opponent's argument in a way that appears ridiculous, often to the extent of creating a straw man of the actual argument. For example: This is a rhetorical tactic which mocks an opponent's argument, attempting to inspire an emotional reaction (making it a type of appeal to emotion) in the audience and to highlight the counter-intuitive aspects of that argument, making it appear foolish and contrary to common sense. This is typically done by demonstrating the argument's logic in an extremely absurd way or by presenting the argument in an overly simplified way, and often involves an appeal to consequences.

Appeal to Ridicule is often found in the form of challenging ones immaturity;
  • Nobody believes in socialism after college! Grow up.
The argument is ridiculed on the basis that having a view commonly associated with youth is somehow invalid.

Although they appear very similar, this fallacy should not be confused with reductio ad absurdum, which is a valid type of logical argument. It should also not be confused with ridiculing the person making the argument, which is a form of the ad hominem fallacy.

References

1. ^ [1]

See also

A fallacy is a component of an argument that is demonstrably flawed in its logic or form, thus rendering the argument invalid in whole. In logical arguments, fallacies are either formal or informal.
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straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position.[1] To "set up a straw man" or "set up a straw man argument" is to create a position that is easy to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent.
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theory of relativity, or simply relativity, refers specifically to two theories: Albert Einstein's special relativity and general relativity.

The term "relativity" was coined by Max Planck in 1908 to emphasize how special relativity (and later, general relativity)
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Grandparents are family members, the father or mother of a person's own father or mother, being respectively grandfather and grandmother. Grandparents form an important element of the extended family.
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Gorillini

Genus: Gorilla
I. Geoffroy, 1852

Type species
Troglodytes gorilla
Savage, 1847

distribution of Gorilla


Species


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Appeal to emotion is a logical fallacy which uses the manipulation of the recipient's emotions, rather than valid logic, to win an argument. This kind of appeal to emotion is a type of red herring and encompasses several logical fallacies, including:

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A counter-intuitive proposition is one that does not seem likely to be true when assessed using intuition or gut feelings.

Scientifically discovered, objective truths are often called counter-intuitive
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Common sense (or, when used attributively as an adjective, commonsense, common-sense, or commonsensical), based on a strict construction of the term, is what people in common would agree: that which they "sense" in common as their common natural
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Appeal to consequences, also known as argumentum ad consequentiam (Latin: argument to the consequences), is an argument that concludes a premise (typically a belief) to be either true or false based on whether the premise leads to desirable or undesirable
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Socialism

Currents
Communism
Democratic socialism
Eco-socialism
Guild socialism
Libertarian socialism
Market socialism
Revolutionary socialism
Social democracy
Utopian socialism


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Reductio ad absurdum (Latin: "reduction to the absurd") also known as an apagogical argument, reductio ad impossibile, or proof by contradiction
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An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the person", "argument against the man") consists of replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim,
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A red herring is a metaphor for a diversion or distraction from an original objective. An example can be found in academic examinations, particularly in mathematics and physical sciences.
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