Tone-policing

Overview

An appeal to calmness is when an argument is answered by a diversionary claim that the arguer is clearly upset, diverting the topic away from the substance of the argument and on to the subject of the arguer's mood (often stated as some form of anger).

An appeal to calmness is a rhetorical deception, and bears some relation to some other types of rhetorical deceptions:

• it is a form of ad hominem attack in that it attempts to respond to the argument by undermining the arguer's credibility
• it is an appeal to emotion in that it operates on emotions rather than on the substance of the argument
• it operates in a similar way to an argument by ridicule, as it may make the argument seem ridiculous by making the arguer (and hence the arguer's motivations) seem ridiculous.

The appeal to calmness can be especially effective if the arguer is genuinely upset in some way, as the discounting of the argument may successfully push the arguer "over the edge" into a truly irrational and contemptible display of anger, thus further undermining of the arguer's credibility and making the "calm" responder appear reasonable and sane by comparison.