Guilt by association - Definition and Overview

Guilt by association, also known as the bad company fallacy or the company that you keep fallacy, is the logical fallacy of claiming that something must be false because of the people or organisations who support it.

Examples:

1. Atheism must be wrong, because Karl Marx and Stalin were atheists, and just look at them.
2. Anne: "Wow - that's a great word-processor".
   Bill: "Yes it's Microsoft Word".
   Anne: "Well, there must be something wrong with it then, because Microsoft uses unfair business practices"
3. John: "I think that there should be heavier penalties for drug-dealers".
   Steve: "Really? That's a British National Party policy! You don't want to support those racists, do you?"
4. Osama bin Laden is a Muslim, so Islam is an evil religion.
5. Catholic priests molest children, so all Catholics and Catholicism is evil.

Guilt by association is a special case of red herring. It is often an appeal to emotion.

See also: honor by association, halo effect.

External links

• Propaganda critic: Transfer technique (http://www.propagandacritic.com/articles/ct.fc.transfer.html)
• Propaganda critic: Testimonial (http://www.propagandacritic.com/articles/ct.fc.testimonial.html)

Example Usage of association