Is there a name for this kind of "argument":

e.g. "If you have to ask if it's racist, then it is."

I thought you guys might know

Maybe an "appeal to common sense"

hmm I don't know

seems more like a faulty generalization, if anything

"Most of the time when people ask if something is ethical, it isn't; so if you're asking if something is ethical, it isn't."

@DanAndrews You keep changing your reference. Now it is compared to blog posts of 2015?

@ff524 But the answerer included the word "probably", so I don't think it is a faulty generalization. I think it is a useful rule of thumb. I've applied it myself.

@Oddthinking good point about the "probably" - but it still doesn't seem like much of an argument to me

@ff524 Oh, it isn't a sound logical argument. It isn't an answer to the question. It is a heuristic for shortcutting the need to think things through.

@Oddthinking "a heuristic for shortcutting the need to think things through" - well put, can I steal that phrase?

@ff524 Sure. The wording is mine, but the concept isn't: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…