Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary
The term when someone tries to brush aside a situation by quoting something worse
Hey everyone,
I cannot seem to remember the term when someone tries to negate a situation by referring to something relatively worse.
Eg.
A: The AIDS research got a boost with a billion dollar grant by the government
B: Why care about AIDS when there are millions dying of hunger
A: Well you can't say that just because there is world hunger so no attention should be paid to AIDS.
I'm looking for a term for the last sentence.
Thank you in advance.
I cannot seem to remember the term when someone tries to negate a situation by referring to something relatively worse.
Eg.
A: The AIDS research got a boost with a billion dollar grant by the government
B: Why care about AIDS when there are millions dying of hunger
A: Well you can't say that just because there is world hunger so no attention should be paid to AIDS.
I'm looking for a term for the last sentence.
Thank you in advance.
Top answer
It is probably considered a variant on the "Relative Privation" informal fallacy.
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It is probably considered a variant on the "Relative Privation" informal fallacy.
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down·play/'doun?pla/
Verb: Make (something) appear less important than it really is: "this report downplays the seriousness of global warming"
Verb: Make (something) appear less important than it really is: "this report downplays the seriousness of global warming"
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