The Appeal to Hypocrisy

Logic.

It is essential for any policy or decision, yet it is routinely ignored. Logical fallacies plague debates and unfortunately, are commonly employed by the inexperienced and the experts alike.

This article aims to explain one of them, the appeal to hypocrisy, also known as ‘tu quoque’.

The fallacy occurs when one asserts, implies, or tries to discredit an argument as being false by proving that the person who makes the argument does not follow the conclusions of said argument. Essentially, it comes to the conclusion that an argument is wrong because the person who made it does not practice what he preaches, aka a hypocrite.

It is a fallacy because even if a person making an argument is a hypocrite, it does not mean that the argument is false. It is a form of ad hominem.

For example, Mr. Watiti tells his daughter that she should quit smoking as various studies have shown that it is injurious to health. His daughter retorts by saying, “ Seriously, you’re telling me this? How can you tell me to quit smoking when you yourself smoked yesterday?” The daughter’s response is flawed because she hasn’t refuted the reason behind the claim (The health issues) or provided a counter-argument that shows that smoking’s benfits outweighs the cons, instead she points out the hypocrisy of her father. Even if Mr. Watiti is a hypocrite, it doesn’t change the soundness of the argument. Smoking is still injurious to health. He could smoke a hundred cigarettes a day, and it still should not have an impact on the validity of the argument.

To conclude, avoid using this fallacy if you are serious about determining the validity/soundness of an argument. Do not be convinced by an argument that employs this fallacy.