Editing Argument to moderation

{{Short description|Informal fallacy that the truth is always a compromise, even if such a position is unfeasible}}
{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date = June 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}{{Redirect-synonym|Fallacy of gray|the [[continuum fallacy]]}}
'''Argument to moderation''' ({{langx|la|argumentum ad temperantiam}})—also known as the '''false compromise''', '''argument from middle ground''', '''fallacy of gray''', '''middle ground fallacy''', or '''[[golden mean (philosophy)|golden mean]] fallacy'''<ref name="Nizkor">{{cite web |url=http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/middle-ground.html |title=Fallacy: Middle Ground |website=[[Nizkor Project]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721094721/http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/middle-ground.html |archive-date=2019-07-21 |url-status=dead}}</ref>—is the [[fallacy]] that the [[truth]] is always in the middle of two opposites.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harker |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/creatingscientif0000hark |title=Creating Scientific Controversies: Uncertainty and Bias in Science and Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-107-06961-9 |lccn=2015011610 |url-access=registration}}</ref> 

It does not necessarily suggest that an argument for the middle solution or for a [[compromise]] is ''always'' fallacious, but rather applies primarily in cases where such a position is ill-informed, unfeasible, or impossible, or where an argument is incorrectly made that a position is correct simply ''because'' it is in the middle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Argument to Moderation |url=https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Argument-to-Moderation |last=Bennett |first=Bo |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=Logically Fallacious |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Hannah |date=2022-05-17 |title=False compromise fallacy: why the middle ground is not always the best |url=https://nesslabs.com/false-compromise-fallacy |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=Ness Labs |language=en}}</ref>

An example of an argument to moderation would be considering two statements about the colour of the sky on Earth during the day{{snd}}one claiming, correctly, that the sky is blue, and another claiming that it is yellow{{snd}}and incorrectly concluding that the sky is the intermediate colour, green.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gardner |first=Susan T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmFzEAAAQBAJ |title=Thinking Your Way to Freedom: A Guide to Owning Your Own Practical Reasoning |publisher=Temple University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-59213-867-8 |jstor=j.ctt14btd4j |lccn=2008023988}}</ref>
== See also ==
{{Portal|Philosophy}}
{{div col}}
* {{annotated link|Centrism}}
* {{annotated link|Dialectic}}
* [[Law of excluded middle|Excluded middle]] – Opposite logical fallacy to argument to moderation
* {{annotated link|False balance}}
* {{annotated link|Horseshoe theory}}
* {{annotated link|Overton window}}
* {{annotated link|Ratchet effect}}
* {{annotated link|Straw man}}
* {{annotated link|View from nowhere}}
* {{annotated link|Wisdom of the crowd}}
* {{annotated link|Paradox of tolerance}}
* {{annotated link|Slippery slope}}
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}{{Fallacies}}



[[Category:Relevance fallacies]]

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