Appeal to motive

Appeal to motive

Appeal to motive is a pattern of argument which consists in challenging a thesis by calling into question the motives of its proposer. It can be considered as a special case of the ad hominem circumstantial argument. As such, this type of argument may be a logical fallacy.

A common feature of appeals to motive is that only the possibility of a motive (however small) is shown, without showing the motive actually existed or, if the motive did exist, that the motive played a role in forming the argument and its conclusion. Indeed, it is often assumed that the mere possibility of motive is evidence enough.

Examples

* "That website recommended nVidia's graphics chip over ATI's. But they also display nVidia advertising on their site, so they were probably biased in their review." The thesis in this case is the website's evaluation of the relative merits of the two chips.

* "The only reason why she got the part in that movie is because her husband is the director." In this case, the thesis is less clear, but could be an assertion that the husband made in regard to his wife's acting ability.

* "The referee comes from the same place as ("a sports team"), so his refereeing was obviously biased towards them." In this case, the thesis consists of the referee's rulings.

See also

* ad hominem circumstantial

References

*cite web
title = Fallacies of relevance
url = http://www.insidephilosophy.com/logic/relevance.php
work = Logic and Reasoning
publisher = Inside Philosophy
accessdate = 2008-01-28


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Appeal (disambiguation) — Appeal may refer to:* Appeal ndash; in law an appeal is a challenge of a judicial judgement to a higher authority, usually called an appellate court. * Appeal (motion) ndash; in parliamentary procedure an appeal is a challenge of the chair s… …   Wikipedia

  • Appeal to novelty — The appeal to novelty (also called argumentum ad novitatem ) is a fallacy in which someone prematurely claims that an idea or proposal is correct or superior, exclusively because it is new and modern. In a controversy between status quo and new… …   Wikipedia

  • List of fallacies — For specific popular misconceptions, see List of common misconceptions. A fallacy is incorrect argumentation in logic and rhetoric resulting in a lack of validity, or more generally, a lack of soundness. Contents 1 Formal fallacies 1.1… …   Wikipedia

  • Ambiguity — Sir John Tenniel s illustration of the Caterpillar for Lewis Carroll s Alice s Adventures in Wonderland is noted for its ambiguous central figure, whose head can be viewed as being a human male s face with a pointed nose and pointy chin or being… …   Wikipedia

  • Argumentum ad populum — In logic, an argumentum ad populum (Latin for appeal to the people ) is a fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or most people believe it; it alleges: If many believe so, it is so. This type of argument is known …   Wikipedia

  • Naturalistic fallacy — The naturalistic fallacy is often claimed to be a formal fallacy. It was described and named by British philosopher G. E. Moore in his 1903 book Principia Ethica. Moore stated that a naturalistic fallacy is committed whenever a philosopher… …   Wikipedia

  • Fallacy — In logic and rhetoric, a fallacy is usually incorrect argumentation in reasoning resulting in a misconception or presumption. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener or interlocutor (appeal to emotion), or… …   Wikipedia

  • Ignoratio elenchi — Contents 1 Example 2 Red herring 3 See also 4 References …   Wikipedia

  • List of philosophy topics (A-C) — 110th century philosophy 11th century philosophy 12th century philosophy 13th century philosophy 14th century philosophy 15th century philosophy 16th century philosophy 17th century philosophy 18th century philosophy 19th century philosophy220th… …   Wikipedia

  • Moralistic fallacy — The moralistic fallacy is in essence the reverse of the naturalistic fallacy. Naturalistic fallacy presumes that what is or what occurs forms what ought to be. Thus the observed natural is reasoned a priori as moral.[1] Moralistic fallacy implies …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”