Logical Fallacy of the Week, Week 65: Appear to Ridicule

Appeal to ridicule

Appeal to ridicule (also called appeal to mockery or the horse laugh), is an informal fallacywhich presents an opponent's argument as absurd, ridiculous, or in any way humorous, to the specific end of a foregone conclusion that the argument lacks any substance which would merit consideration.

Appeal to ridicule is often found in the form of comparing a nuanced circumstance or argument to a laughably commonplace occurrence or to some other irrelevancy on the basis of comedic timing, wordplay, or making an opponent and their argument the object of a joke. For example, during the 2008 United States general elections, Republicans frequently labeled Barack Obama's policies as "socialist". Obama responded by saying "Next they'll be calling me a communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten", pushing the "socialist" label to an extreme to make it appear silly.

This is a rhetorical tactic that mocks an opponent's argument or standpoint, attempting to inspire an emotional reaction (making it a type of appeal to emotion) in the audience and to highlight any counter-intuitive aspects of that argument, making it appear foolish and contrary to common sense. This is typically done by making a mockery of the argument's foundation that represents it in an uncharitable and overly simplified way.

My Take - The example they use to demonstrate the fallacy of an "appeal to ridicule" is in itself fallacious.  Telling the truth isn’t fallacious.   He is a socialist and communists are the left wing of socialism. The real weakness was there was no come back - which should have been; Socialists aren’t people who willing choose to share the things they have! They’re called philanthropists who are usually capitalists.  Socialists are people who force others to share the things they have against their will; they’re usually socialists who can’t wait to become communists.   And Obama qualifies.

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