Special Pleading
Applying a rule to others but inventing an unjustified exception for your own case.
- informal
Special pleading holds others to a standard while exempting oneself (or a favored case) without offering a relevant justification for the exception. The double standard is simply asserted rather than earned by a genuine, principled difference.
Examples
- “Everyone should pay their fair share of tax — but my situation is complicated, so those rules shouldn't apply to me.”
- “The psychic's failed predictions don't count — her powers just stop working whenever a skeptic is in the room.”
Why it works & how to counter
Persuasive because the exception is dressed up as a special circumstance. Counter it by asking what relevant difference actually justifies treating this case differently from all the others.