"If we allow students to retake one exam, soon they will demand unlimited retakes and standards will collapse." This argument is an example of
- A. a slippery slope
- B. an appeal to authority
- C. a hasty generalisation
- D. a false dilemma
Explanation
A slippery slope claims that one modest step will inevitably lead to an extreme outcome without showing why each stage must follow. The chain may be plausible, but it has to be argued rather than assumed. Asking what makes the next step inevitable is the way to test it.
Related questions
Argument: "Students who take extra classes score higher, so extra classes cause higher scores." The main weakness of this argument is that it
Statement: "Every time I wash my car, it rains." This reasoning is flawed because it
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument that a new drug is effective because patients improved after taking it?
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the claim that a city's new bus lanes reduced traffic congestion?
Identify the assumption: "We should build a new hospital because the population of the district has doubled."