A loaded question is a form of complex question that contains a controversial assumption (e.g., a presumption of guilt).
Such questions may be used as a rhetorical tool: the question attempts to limit direct replies to be those that serve the questioner's agenda.
This informal fallacy should be distinguished from that of begging the question, which offers a premise whose plausibility depends on the truth of the proposition asked about, and which is often an implicit restatement of the proposition.
Defense
A common way out of this argument is not to answer the question (e.g. with a simple 'yes' or 'no'), but to challenge the assumption behind the question. To use an earlier example, a good response to the question "Have you stopped beating your wife?" would be "I have never beaten my wife". This removes the ambiguity of the expected response, therefore nullifying the tactic. However, the asker may respond to a challenge by accusing the one who answers of dodging the question.
Historical examples
Diogenes Laërtius wrote a brief biography of the philosopher Menedemus in which he relates that:
For another example, the 2009 New Zealand child discipline referendum asked: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" Murray Edridge, of Barnardos New Zealand, criticized the question as "loaded and ambiguous" and claimed "the question presupposes that smacking is a part of good parental correction".
See also
- Barber paradox
- Complex question
- Entailment (pragmatics)
- False dilemma
- Gotcha journalism
- Implicature
- Leading question
- Presupposition
- Suggestive question
- List of fallacies
References
External links
- Fallacy: Loaded Questions and Complex Claims Critical Thinking exercises. San Jose State University.
- Logical Fallacy: Loaded Question The Fallacy Files
- What Is The Loaded Question Fallacy? Definition and Examples Fallacy in Logic