Argumentum ad baculum (Latin for "argument to the cudgel" or "appeal to the stick") is the fallacy committed when one makes an appeal to force[1] to bring about the acceptance of a conclusion.[2][3] One participates in argumentum ad baculum when one emphasizes the negative consequences of holding the contrary position, regardless of the contrary position's truth value — particularly when the argument-maker himself causes (or threatens to cause) those negative consequences. It is a special case of the appeal to consequences.
Examples[edit]
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy gives this example of argumentum ad baculum:
- If you don’t join our demonstration against the expansion of the park, we will evict you from your apartment.
- So, you should join our demonstration against the expansion of the park.[4]
The phrase has also been used[5] to describe the 1856 caning of Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Senator, by one of his pro-slavery opponents, Preston Brooks, on the floor of the United States Senate.
See also[edit]
- Argument from authority
- Conformity (psychology)
- Formal fallacy
- In terrorem
- Legal threat
- Management by perkele
- Might makes right
- Pascal's Wager
- Proof by intimidation
References[edit]
- ^ Gary N. Curtis (2018). "Logical Fallacy: Appeal to Force". FallacyFiles.org. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
- ^ philosophy.lander.edu
- ^ John Woods: Argumentum ad baculum. In: Argumentation. Vol. 12, No. 4 (November 1998), pp. 493–504, doi: 10.1023/A:1007779930624 (Online).
- ^ Hans Hansen (2020). Edward N. Zalta (ed.). "Fallacies". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2020 Edition).
- ^ "American Notes". The Illustrated London News. 71. 1877-12-29. p. 622. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
...that uncompromising Sumner whose eloquence exasperated a fiery Southerner into the employment of the argumentum ad baculum...
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