Poisoning the Well

The act of "Poisoning the Well" (see below) has been applied recently to many citizens in Chico, unfortunately. This "Poisoning" has come in the form of labeling and name-calling in the Enterprise Record editorials, the paper that calls for civility in public debate. Words such as "NIMBY (Not In My Backyard)," and "anti-growth advocate," and "screaming liberals" have been applied n an effort to mask the true reasons and concerns behind these citizens’ efforts.

Why has this been done? Fear. The fear of not getting what you want because your dubious intent is not strong enough to stand on its own merit or strong enough to go toe-to-toe on the issues themselves.

Tagging concerned and involved citizens with catchy labels is a calculated action intended to discredit their motives while ignoring the facts. This has been going on since time immemorial. Ask people like Lois Gibbs of the infamous toxic site, Love Canal.

Poisoning the Well.

Definition: This fallacy consists in rejecting a claim defended by another because of that person’s special circumstances or improper motives or because of a negative evaluation of that person.

This fallacy is called poisoning the well because its effect is to discredit the source of a particular argument or point of view in such a way that it precludes any consideration of the merit of that position. In other words, it "damns the source" in such a way that nothing that comes from that source will be or can be regarded as worthy of serious consideration. Even if a charge about someone’s special circumstances or questionable motives were true in a particular case, that fact would not contribute to any disproof of the claim at issue. The truth of a claim or the worthiness of a course of action can in no way he inferred from the motives or personal circumstances of the defender of that claim.

A special case of poisoning the well is exhibited when one rejects an idea simply because of one’s negative evaluation of the person presenting it. To avoid committing this fallacy, it is necessary to separate a strong dislike of a person from appreciation of his or her comments or ideas.

Attacking the Fallacy: "Okay, you've poisoned my well, so that anything I say is suspect. That is a very effective device, and there’s not a whole lot that I can do about it. But I do not intend to be silenced so easily. One reason you might want to silence me is that you think that what I say might seriously damage your position."

The excerpts above are from Attacking Faulty Reasoning by T. Edward Damer and Emory and Henry College. Published in 1980 by Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California.

This column originally appeared in October 2000 in the Chico Examiner.