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Fallacies are a common occurrence in the world of politics, advertisement and journalism. They are used as a means to invalidate the opponent, present oneself as superior to the customers and clients or to enforce a message, regardless of whether it is rational or nonsensical. The following post will review an example of a slippery slope fallacy by a reverends ad and depict the nature and reasoning behind the fallacy.
Generally, depictions of slippery slopes are rather helpful, as they prevent negative events. However, it may reveal itself as a fallacy if the final step in the chain of events it depicts is extremely unlikely (Dowden, 2017). It is used for both valid reasons (raising awareness of smoking) and misrepresenting complex topics that require more nuance. The problem is that it may either misrepresent the topic at hand or ridicule a serious issue it is addressing. That way, once the fallacy is discovered, the audience either has a poorer understanding of a certain topic or becomes sceptical of upcoming valid concerns regarding a specific problem.
The ad used by Reverend Briggs is a valid example of a slippery slope fallacy, as it depicts a chain of events, where each upcoming one seems more and more ridiculous and unlikely. According to the Figure 1, the last event mentioned in the billboard (a future Civil War) is highly improbable, which proves that the depicted sequence of events is a fallacy rather than a sensible concern (Briggs, n. d.). Moreover, it falls into the mistake of misrepresenting a rather complicated topic that requires a more flexible understanding of the matter. This, in turn, has a risk of invalidating the persons authority, which is why fallacies similar to the one on the billboard, are to be avoided.
References
Dowden, B. H. (2017). Logical reasoning. Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Briggs, E.F. (n.d.) Anti-God is Anti-American, Anti-American is Treason, Traitors Lead to Civil War.
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