Appeal to ridicule

What it is

Dismisses a position by mocking it or presenting it as absurd instead of showing that it is wrong.

Related

• Ad hominem fallacy
  Mockery is usually aimed at a person or group, so ridicule often doubles as an ad hominem.
• Appeal to emotion fallacy
  Ridicule persuades by making an idea feel embarrassing rather than by showing it is wrong.

References

• Wikipedia: Appeal to ridicule en.wikipedia.org
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Fallacies iep.utm.edu
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Fallacies plato.stanford.edu
• Wikipedia: List of fallacies en.wikipedia.org
• Purdue OWL: Logical fallacies owl.purdue.edu

More in “Dodging or distorting the argument”