what is slippery slope?

TODAY I AM HAVING MY ENG 112 AND I AM URGE TO FIND MORE ABOUT SLIPPERY SLOPE AND ITS EXAMPLE

Slippery slope is allegedly a form of an Ad absurdum fallacy wherr one discounts the other position by taking it to an extreme. "If you give a mouse a cookie...."

An alleged example of the slippery slope argumebt I've read include:

"If we allow gay marriage, then we'll have to allow poligamy."

The position of the opposing view in this example is that the position is based on the ad absurdum argument.... that the person engaging in slippery slope is scaring the audience with wild speculations of what will occur if they give ground on the position of gay marriage. The presupposes the speculations are false and those the argument invalid.

However, I contend that --with regard to the negative tendencies toward the selfish nature of humankind -- the slippery slope is NOT fallacious (at least as long as the employer does not stretch beyond reasonably foreseeable second and third order effects).

For example, the slippery slope postulated in the gay marriage debate has come to fruition. Polygamists have indeed argued that they have every right to legalize their version of marriage based on granting legal sanction to same sex marriage (technically and etymologically an oxymoronic term). Not only have the polygamists employed gay marriage as justification, so too have paedophiles and Transgenders demanded special rights and recognitions based on the gay marriage "Love Wins" canard.

To proclaim "slippery slope" as fallacious also ignores the very real political tactic of "thin slicing" -- the proverbial "nose of the camel in the tent". The strategy slowly advances a society or culture along some divergent path from its established stasis by slow and steady incrementalism. This is evidenced throughout history.

Karl Marx advocated for the incremental push of capitalist nations towards communism through varying degrees of Socialist programs in his Communist Manifesto in lieu of violent and sudden Coomunist revolt which the general population might reject outright. By introducing small doses of Socialism over the course of generations, Marxist ideology become more palatable to the public.

Much like Marxism, Islam advocates clearly in the Quran and Sunnah for three stages of jihad to conquer a non-Muslim population. First, appear as peaceful and tolerant And ask for special provisions until they are strong enough to wage a terrorist insurgency. In phase 2, use violence to counter alleged persecution (usually when the host denies the requested provisions); eventually, when strong enough, the host population is subdued and subjugated. This is a template followed through the 1400 years since Mohammed crawled into the Jewish town of Medina and shortly there after ethically cleansed it.

Another historic example is contained in the poem, "First they came ..." is a poem written by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller to relate how the Nazis thin sliced and eliminated minority groups in Germany:

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

When one confronts the tactic of incrementalism or thin slicing by predicting the next logical step in the evolution if they cede the argument, the opposition will typically accuse them of engaging in the "slippery slope" as an irrational, sophistic device that renders their real concerns as laughable.

A Slippery Slope argument is not necessarily invalid if the reasonable predictions do not bear out. For example, the "Domino Theory" supported the formulation of US Foreign Policy concerning the perceived monolithic spread of Communism. Its predictions did not fall out exactly as US policy makers had hypothesized; However, it was perhaps an oversimplification of the very intentional propagation of Marxist ideology by the Soviets and others. And in some cases US Foriegn Policy framed upon the Domino Theory did help to contain the spread of Marxism.

When engaging in the "slippery slope," one's arguments should include other logical points presented with factual evidence that buttresses the point.

For example, proclaiming that gay marriage opens the door to polygamy and pedophila rights does not necessarily render gay marriage as illogical or immoral by itself. One must point out other factual arguments that further illuminate why rendering honours and incentives to a counterfeit version of matrimony (from the Latin "to enter into the state of motherhood") is not necessarily a wise step for the regeneration and continuity of a stable society.

A "Slippery Slope" is better employed as icing on a well-baked layer cake.

A slippery slope is ideas or actions that can or eventually lead to something unacceptable or even disastrous.

Slippery Slope - definition:

an idea or course of action which will lead to something unacceptable, wrong, or disastrous.
"he is on the slippery slope toward a life of crime"

This is how I figure out these fallacies; I look up the definition, see and example, and there you have it. Make yourself some flash cards, that will help you a lot, also. There were a lot of fallacies I didn't know were fallacies until I looked up the definitions to them.

It is an easy way to learn them and begin understanding them better.