Fallacy: Appeal to Flattery

Also Known as: Apple Polishing, various "colorful" expressions.

Description of Appeal to Flattery

An Appeal to Flattery is a fallacy of the following form:

Person A is flattered by person B.
Person B makes claim X.
Therefore X is true.

The basic idea behind this fallacy is that flattery is presented in the place of evidence for accepting a claim. this sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because flattery is not, in fact, evidence for a claim. This is especially clear in a case like this: "My Bill, that is a really nice tie. By the way, it is quite clear that one plus one is equal to forty three."

Examples of Appeal to Flattery

"Might I say that this is the best philosophy class I've ever taken. By the way, about those two points I need to get an A..."
"That was a wonderful joke about AIDS boss, and I agree with you that the damn liberals are wrecking the country. Now about my raise..."
"That was a singularly brilliant idea. I have never seen such a clear and eloquent defense of Plato's position. If you do not mind, I'll base my paper on it. Provided that you allow me a little extra time past the deadline to work on it."

[ Previous | Index | Next ]

Home · Site Map · What's New? · Search Nizkor

This site is intended for educational purposes to teach about the Holocaust and to combat hatred. Any statements or excerpts found on this site are for educational purposes only.

As part of these educational purposes, Nizkor may include on this website materials, such as excerpts from the writings of racists and antisemites. Far from approving these writings, Nizkor condemns them and provides them so that its readers can learn the nature and extent of hate and antisemitic discourse. Nizkor urges the readers of these pages to condemn racist and hate speech in all of its forms and manifestations.