Question

Is there a specific fallacy as the “as long as it makes him happy, it’s perfectly fine” or is that just more of the general appeal to emotions fallacy.

It is mostly an opinion. "It is perfectly fine" according to the person making the statement - not that it is a general fact to be accepted or rejected.

The statement "as long as it makes him happy, it's perfectly fine" can indeed be scrutinized through the lens of logical fallacies and cognitive biases.

1. **Appeal to Emotion Fallacy**: This fallacy occurs when a conclusion is supported primarily by eliciting emotions in the audience rather than by presenting valid reasoning or evidence. In this case, the argument hinges on the positive emotion of happiness to justify an action, without considering whether the action is objectively right or wrong.

2. **False Dichotomy**: The statement implies that happiness is the sole criterion for determining whether something is fine, ignoring other important factors such as ethical considerations, societal rules, potential harm to oneself or others, and long-term consequences. Presenting happiness as the only relevant factor creates a false dichotomy.

3. **Hasty Generalization**: This occurs when a general rule or conclusion is drawn from a small or unrepresentative sample. Assuming that because something makes one person happy, it is "perfectly fine" can be an overgeneralization since it doesn't account for varied circumstances where that same action might be harmful or unethical.

4. **Subjective Validation**: This cognitive bias refers to the tendency of people to believe something simply because it aligns with their preferences or feelings. In this case, an action might be deemed "fine" solely based on the individual's subjective feeling of happiness, rather than an objective assessment of its merits.

5. **Moral Relativism**: The statement can also be indicative of moral relativism, which suggests that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint and that no standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others. However, it often overlooks universal ethical principles that many would argue exist independently of individual happiness.

Overall, while appealing to emotions, the statement also ignores multiple facets of sound reasoning by oversimplifying the criteria for what makes an action acceptable. This can lead to unethical decisions if happiness is considered the only guiding principle.