trivial objections

{{short description|Fallacy in informal logic}}

Trivial objections (also referred to as hair-splitting, nothing but objections, barrage of objections and banal objections) is an informal logical fallacy where irrelevant and sometimes frivolous objections are made to divert the attention away from the topic that is being discussed.{{cite book |last=Pirie |first=Madsen |author-link=Madsen Pirie |date=12 Mar 2015 |title=How to Win Every Argument |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMPuBQAAQBAJ&dq=madsen+pirie+trivial+objections&pg=PT134 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9781472526977}}{{cite book|author=Madsen Pirie|title=The book of the fallacy: a training manual for intellectual subversives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0DYAAAAMAAJ|date=November 1985|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul|page=164|isbn=9780710205216}} This type of argument is called a "quibble" or "quillet".{{cite web | title=Word of the Day: Quibble | website=Merriam-Webster | date=2019-06-08 | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/quibble-2019-06-08 | access-date=2025-01-21}} Trivial objections are a special case of red herring. A person engaging in this logical fallacy could also be considered pedantic.

The fallacy often arises when an argument is difficult to refute. The person making a trivial objection may seem willing to accept the argument, but simultaneously undermines it through numerous minor or irrelevant criticisms.{{rp|165}} These objections can appear in the form of lists, hypotheticals, and even accusations.

Such objections themselves may be valid, but they fail to confront the main argument under consideration. Instead, the objection opposes a small, irrelevant part of the main argument.{{cite book|author=T. Edward Damer|title=Attacking Faulty Reasoning: A Practical Guide to Fallacy-Free Arguments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qZabUx0FmkC|date=21 February 2008|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0-495-09506-4|page=206}} The fallacy is committed due to this diversion, as it is flawed reasoning to oppose a point based on minor or incidental aspects instead of addressing the central claim directly.

These objections are often used to not address the merit of an argument but rather to oppose them from a technicality.