Appeal to spite
Encyclopedia
An appeal to spite is a fallacy
in which someone attempts to win favor for an argument by exploiting existing feelings of bitterness, spite
, or schadenfreude
in the opposing party. It is an attempt to sway the audience emotionally
by associating a hate-figure with opposition to the speaker's argument.
Fallacious ad hominem
arguments which attack villains holding the opposing view are often confused with appeals to spite. The ad hominem can be a similar appeal to a negative emotion, but differs from it in directly criticizing the villain —that is unnecessary in an appeal to spite, where hatred for the villain is assumed.
Fallacy
In logic and rhetoric, a fallacy is usually an incorrect argumentation in reasoning resulting in a misconception or presumption. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener or interlocutor , or take advantage of social relationships between people...
in which someone attempts to win favor for an argument by exploiting existing feelings of bitterness, spite
Spite
In fair division problems, spite is a phenomenon that occurs when a player's value of an allocation decreases when one or more other players' valuation increases...
, or schadenfreude
Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd and Swedish as skadeglädje....
in the opposing party. It is an attempt to sway the audience emotionally
Appeal to emotion
Appeal to emotion is a potential fallacy which uses the manipulation of the recipient's emotions, rather than valid logic, to win an argument. The appeal to emotion fallacy uses emotions as the basis of an argument's position without factual evidence that logically supports the major ideas endorsed...
by associating a hate-figure with opposition to the speaker's argument.
Fallacious ad hominem
Ad hominem
An ad hominem , short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it...
arguments which attack villains holding the opposing view are often confused with appeals to spite. The ad hominem can be a similar appeal to a negative emotion, but differs from it in directly criticizing the villain —that is unnecessary in an appeal to spite, where hatred for the villain is assumed.
Examples
- "If you vote for this tax cut, it will mean that the fat cats will get even more money to spend on their expensive luxury yachts, while you and I keep struggling to pay the bills."
- "Stop recycling! Aren't you tired of Hollywood celebrities preaching to everyone about saving the Earth?"
- "Why should a criminal be let free after 7 to 10 years if his victim is left to suffer for her whole life?"