Paul Rosenberg – The loaded question fallacy is an attempt to win an argument by starting it with a question or statement that contains a false or misleading assumption. The usual example of this (and one that makes the trick easy to understand) is this question:

Have you stopped beating your wife?

Whether you answer yes or no, you’re admitting that you’ve beaten beaten her in the past; that is pre-supposed by the question itself.

So, this fallacy is really just a dirty trick, although it’s usually wrapped in something like justice-seeking. Continue reading →