Slippery Slope

The slippery slope is a rhetorical and Logical Fallacies in which a specific course of action is rejected based on the belief that it will trigger a chain reaction leading to an undesirable or extreme conclusion.

This argument asserts that a relatively minor initial step will inevitably lead to a series of subsequent events resulting in a drastic change or negative outcome.

The core of the slippery slope argument involves an assumed cause-and-effect relationship between two or more outcomes without certain knowledge of the final result.

While the progression is often presented as unstoppable, comparable to a person sliding down a physical incline, the strength of the argument depends upon the demonstration of the process leading to the significant effect, known in logic as the warrant.

In the field of informal logic, a slippery slope is classified as a logical fallacy when the initial step is not demonstrably likely to result in the claimed effects.

This error typically lies in the content of the argument rather than its structural format. Consequently, not every slippery slope argument is inherently fallacious; if evidence exists that the consequences of an initial action are highly probable, the reasoning may be considered a legitimate logical extrapolation.

The fallacious version of the argument often functions as a form of fearmongering, exaggerating probable consequences to influence an audience through emotion rather than evidence.