The Importance of Recognizing “Slippery Slope” Arguments

They can easily lead to regrettable decisions

When my son Diego was 12, he was kicked out of religious education class. The head of the program called me on the phone and, skipping all niceties, informed me that Diego had pushed the catechist and that he couldn’t go back.

Her argument, We can’t have any aggression whatsoever. The other kids may copy Diego’s behavior; I’ll need to make exceptions for other children; the whole program will be put at risk and maybe collapse.

It’s a dangerous slippery slope!

Never mind that Diego has autism, that he’d pushed allegedly, that I offered to be there the whole time if necessary, that there were many interventions that we could put in place, that Diego didn’t mean to be aggressive, that no one was hurt in any way.

Never mind that the Catholic Church, of all institutions, should not reject a child so readily and thoughtlessly!

Here’s another way to look at the situation: If you reject Diego for pushing (allegedly and just this once), then you’ll reject the boy with Angelman Syndrome who forgets he can’t touch other people’s hair, the girl with autism who hums constantly, the girl whose dad’s in jail, the boy who’s fresh and talks back… There’s no end it sight! Pretty soon, you’ll have no children to catechize.

There you have it again: the slippery slope!

If a, then b; if b, then c……. until -eventually, inevitably, and for unproven reasons — if y, then z.

Most things that are specific to the human condition are messy, subject to argument, determined by preferences, experiences, and by views on what’s fair or unfair, right or wrong.

In our quest to make sense of things, we come up with frameworks to justify our actions and our views. Such frameworks often lead us to invoke the slippery slope defense.

We do this not only when arguing society’s hot button issues, such as abortion and gun control, but also when making decisions in our everyday lives.

Because my son has disabilities (autism, intellectual) and because I’m a special education teacher, I immediately recognize the slippery slope fallacy at play when it comes to disability.

Parents, for example, are sometimes fiercely determined to hide their child’s disability from other parents. If other parents find out, they explain, then the parents will reject their child; other parents will tell their kids not to play with him; then he won’t be invited to playdates or birthday parties; as a result, he’ll never have any friends.

Never mind that the children I work with have moderate to severe disabilities and that, often, the other parents can actually tell. In this case, the slippery slope thinking is a sign of parental denial.

Of course, I could just turn the slippery slope argument on its head to show parents how it can lead, fallaciously, to the opposite conclusion about hiding the disability:

If you keep hiding your child’s disability, other parents will think you’re a bad parent because your child doesn’t follow directions and tantrums all the time; you won’t be able to implement accommodations so he can have successful relationships with peers; then other parents won’t invite him to playdates or birthday parties; as a result, he’ll never have any friends.

If a, then b; if b, then c……. until -eventually, inevitably, and for unproven reasons — if y, then z.

Of course, I’ve never said any of this. Denial is too powerful. I know, I went through it myself.

As we’ve seen, then, you can use slippery slope thinking to argue diametrically opposite views or possible decisions. It’s also a relatively easy way to argue for decisions we already feel strongly about, whether it’s the “right” decision or the “wrong” one. Human affairs are indeed complicated.

When you come across a slippery slope argument on an issue you care about, it’s a signal you need to dig deeper, especially if the argument confirms your views. Be skeptical. Get more information. Talk to people who have different opinions.

In the end, even if you don’t change your mind, you’ll have stronger, sounder reasons to do and think what you will.