Argument to moderation

What it is

Assumes the truth must lie between two opposing positions. Sometimes one side is simply right, or both are wrong.

Related

• Anchoring bias
  The two opposing positions act as anchors, and the "middle" is a number or position derived from them rather than from evidence.
• False dilemma fallacy
  A false dilemma gives two extremes, and the argument to moderation then splits the difference between them; both ignore the real range of options.
• False equivalence fallacy
  False balance often leads to the claim that the truth is in the middle.

References

• Wikipedia: Argument to moderation en.wikipedia.org
• Your Logical Fallacy Is: Middle ground yourlogicalfallacyis.com
• 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

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