Appeal to ridicule
The
logical fallacy of
appeal to ridicule presents the opponent's argument in a way that appears ridiculous and mocking it.
Examples:
- If Einstein is right that would mean that when I drive my car it gets shorter and heavier. That's daft!
- You can't have a cat called Fido. Calling a cat Fido would just be silly!
This should be contrasted with
reductio ad absurdum which is a valid logical argument form.