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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Logical Fallacy of the Week: Week 56, Argumentum ad baculum


Argumentum ad baculum (Latin for argument to the cudgel or appeal to the stick), also known as appeal to force, is an argument where force, coercion, or the threat of force, is given as a justification. It is a specific case of the negative form of an argument to the consequences. 

A fallacious argument based on argumentum ad baculum generally proceeds as follows:

If x accepts P as true, then Q.
Q is a punishment on x.
Therefore, P is not true.

This form of argument is an informal fallacy, because the attack Q may not necessarily reveal anything about the truth value of the premise P. This fallacy has been identified since the Middle Ages by many philosophers. This is a special case of argumentum ad consequentiam, or "appeal to consequences".   To Read More…. 

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