Fallacy: Appeal to Spite
The Appeal to Spite Fallacy is a fallacy in which spite is
substituted for evidence when an "argument" is made against a claim.
This line of "reasoning" has the following form:
This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because a feeling of spite
does not count as evidence for or against a claim. This is quite clear
in the following case: "Bill claims that the earth revolves around the
sun. But remember that dirty trick he pulled on you last week. Now,
doesn't my claim that the sun revolves around the earth make sense to
you?"
Of course, there are cases in which a claim that evokes a feeling of
spite or malice can serve as legitimate evidence. However, it should be
noted that the actual feelings of malice or spite are not evidence. The
following is an example of such a situation:
Jill: "I think I'll vote for Jane to be treasurer of NOW."
In this case, Jill has a good reason not to vote for Jane. Since a
treasurer should be honest, a known thief would be a bad choice. As long
as Jill concludes that she should vote against Jane because she is a
thief and not just out of spite, her reasoning would not be falacious.
[
Previous
|
Index
|
Next
]
Home ·
Site Map ·
What's New? ·
Search
Nizkor
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2012
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.
Description of Appeal to Spite
Vicki: "Remember the time that your purse vanished at a meeting last year?"
Jill: "Yes."
Vicki:"Well, I just found out that she stole your purse and stole some other stuff from people."
Jill: "I'm not voting for her!"
Examples of Appeal to Spite
Dave: "Have you forgotten last year? Remember that she didn't nominate you last year."
Bill: "You're right. I'm not going to nominate her."
Bill: "Maybe. Remember how she showed that your paper had a fatal flaw when you read it at the convention last year..."
Jill:"I had just about forgotten about that! I think I'll go with your idea instead."