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Eugene Volokh (who approves of same-sex marriage recognition) looks at how today’s and other decisions prove the slippery slope argument can be valid.
[I]t seems to me that decisions such as the California, Massachusetts, and Vermont ones illustrate that it’s a mistake to just factually dismiss the claims that slippage is possible. When we’re dealing with a legal system that’s built on analogy and precedent (both binding precedent and persuasive precedent), slippery slope risks have to be taken seriously.
Tags: courts, homsexuality, same-gender marriage
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http://www.asoftanswer.com/2008/05/15/for-those-who-dismiss-slippery-slope-arguments/trackback/
15 May 2008 at 5:17 pm
Anonymous
That slippery slope arguments sometimes turn out to be true does not make them good arguments. There is always a certain element of truth to them, much in the way that stereotypes consist of some true elemnts. One of the problem with slippery slope arguments is that they often assume a causal relationship between the chain of events. There rarely is such a relationship.
15 May 2008 at 5:20 pm
Anonymous
I am not sure why it is putting me as Anonymous
15 May 2008 at 5:27 pm
David H. Sundwall
Chris -
I thought Volokh was effective in contrasting statements advocating incremental same-sex rights laws that claimed they weren’t going to lead to SSM against the SSM decisions which cited those very same laws as part of the justification. There sure seems to be some causality in this case.
That’s weird about your newfound anonymity. OpenID works for others on the site.