Scare Tactics
Also: Appeal to Fear, Fear Mongering, FUD Ads
Class: Emotional Manipulation
Class: Emotional Manipulation
Playing on someone’s fear or anger
to persuade them.
to persuade them.
Drink your milk or your bones will break.
Don’t wear that. Everyone will laugh at you!
They are coming to take our guns away!
They are reinstituting Jim Crow laws!
But punishments are not foolacies, even though they are meant to scare you:Get an A or I’ll take away your phone!
Warning of scary outcomes is okay if it can be supported with fair reasons and it’s not exaggerated:If we don’t reduce carbon emissions, we will keep getting more storms, droughts, and fires.
Some appealing to fear and anger is tolerated in political speeches, but it’s counterproductive when trying to pass legislation:The wealthy elite are taking all the power!
Foolacy vs. Fallacy
This matches the fallacy Appeal to Fear. This usually overlaps with Appeal to Anger because people get angry at the threat of something they fear.
Scare Tactics are always to persuade someone, using exaggerations, lies, and/or extreme outcomes. Scare Tactics are often used with other foolacies.