# Appeal to spite

*Also called: Argumentum ad odium*

- **Cluster:** Emotional pressure — Feeling recruited to do the work of evidence
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/spite/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/spite.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Exploiting resentment toward someone as a reason to reject their position.

## In the wild

> Vote against it, remember how they treated you.

## How to answer it

Set the grievance aside and evaluate the proposal as if a neutral party had made it.

## Origin and naming

From the Latin 'argumentum ad odium', 'argument to hatred' — catalogued by logicians including Gary Curtis of the Fallacy Files. It harvests an existing grudge and spends it as if it were a reason against the grudged party's position.

## More places it shows up

- Of course the city council member opposes it — but remember she fired your cousin, so you know what to say at the hearing.
- Don't retweet that thread, however accurate; the author humiliated our community three years ago.
- Reject the merger proposal — the CFO who drafted it is the same one who cut your department's budget.
- He says the experiment design is flawed, but he once competed with your advisor for a grant, so we can ignore the review.

## How to spot it

- Notice when the grievance gets a full rehearsal while the proposal gets none.
- Notice when your vote is being collected as payback, not as judgment.
- Notice when the same idea would be fine from anyone else's mouth.

## Nearby

- [Ad hominem](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/ad-hominem.md)
- [Appeal to emotion](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/appeal-emotion.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_fallacy)
- [The Fallacy Files](https://www.fallacyfiles.org/emotiona.html)

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From fallacy.wiki — a bilingual field guide to 91 logical fallacies, published by phi holdings. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse freely with attribution to fallacy.wiki.