The Volokh Conspiracy

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Slippery Slope Arguments

Slippery Slope Arguments in History: Socrates

|The Volokh Conspiracy |


slippery
Camel (A) sticks his nose under the tent (B), which collapses, driving the thin end of the wedge (C) to cause monkey to open floodgates (D), letting water flow down the slippery slope (E) to irrigate acorn (F) which grows into oak (G). [Illustration by Eric Kim, from my idea.]

From the Phaedrus dialogue:

Socrates…. Where is deception most likely to occur—regarding things that differ much or things that differ little from one another?

Phaedrus. Regarding those that differ little.

Socrates. At any rate, you are more likely to escape detection, as you shift from one thing to its opposite, if you proceed in small steps rather than in large ones.

Phaedrus. Without a doubt….

Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any institution.