Also Known as: Apple Polishing, various colorful expressions
Description:
An Appeal to Flattery is a fallacy of the following form:
1) Person A is flattered by person B.
2) Person B makes claim X.
3) Therefore X is true.
The basic idea behind this fallacy is that flattery is presented in the place of evidence for accepting a claim. This sort of reasoning is fallacious because flattery is not, in fact, evidence for a claim. This is especially clear in a case like this: My Bill, that is a really nice tie. By the way, it is quite clear that one plus one is equal to forty three.
Example #1:
Might I say that this is the best philosophy class Ive ever taken. By the way, about those two points I need to get an A.
Example #2:
That was a wonderful joke about AIDS boss, and I agree with you that the damn liberals are wrecking the country. Now about my raise
Example #3:
That was a singularly brilliant idea. I have never seen such a clear and eloquent defense of Platos position. If you do not mind, Ill base my paper on it. Provided that you allow me a little extra time past the deadline to work on it.