The pot calling the kettle black is an informal fallacy also called Tu quoque.[1]
Another name is appeal to hypocrisy.
It happens when a person is guilty of the very thing of which they accuse another.[2]
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"Oho!" said the pot to the kettle;
"You are dirty and ugly and black!
Sure no one would think you were metal,
Except when you're given a crack".
"Not so! not so!" kettle said to the pot;
"'Tis your own dirty image you see;
For I am so clean – without blemish or blot –
That your blackness is mirrored in me".[3]
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A fable, perhaps by Aesop, has a mother crab and its young, where the mother tells the child to walk straight, and is asked in return to demonstrate how that is done.[4]
A present-day example:
- Peter: "It is morally wrong to use animals for food or clothing".
- Bill: "But you are wearing a leather jacket and you have a roast beef sandwich in your hand! How can you say that using animals for food and clothing is wrong?" [5]
It is a fallacy because a person's actions or character do not affect the logic of the argument.
References
