fallacies/appeals

i. Ad Baculum
Appeal to force
The appeal to force is the invocation of a threat in an argument.

ii. Ad Hominem
Argument against the man
Ad Hominem involves attacking the proponent of an argument, rather than addressing the inherent strength of the argument itself.

iii. Ad Hominem tu quoque
You also
The defence of one’s own actions by implication of an opponent in the same activity.

iv. Circumstantial Ad Hominem
The assertion that a claim is false because it is in the interests of the person making the claim to have it accepted as truth. The fallacy sometimes involves an attack on the circumstances of the person making the claim to support the suggestion of the falsity of the proposition.

v. Argumentum Ad Ignorantium
Appeal to ignorance
Ad Ignorantium is the argument that since it cannot be proven that something is false, it must be true, or that since there is no proof something is true, it must be false.
Nb (from Atheism Web In 1893, the Royal Academy of Science were convinced by Sir Robert Ball that communication with the planet Mars was a physical impossibility, because it would require a flag as large as Ireland, which it would be impossible to wave.

vi. Appeal to belief
The argument that since most people believe a certain proposition it must be true. Of course, it should be noted that in some instances widespread belief can contribute to evidence for a proposition, and that in other instances belief is itself intrinsic in a proposition’s truth.

vii. Appeal to consequences of a belief
The appeal to the consequences of a belief is the fallacious argument that the consequences of accepting a certain proposition is true or false have a bearing in determining the claim’s truth. The fallacy can take the following forms:
X is true because if people did not accept X as being true then there would be negative consequences.
X is false because if people did not accept X as being false, then there would be negative consequences.
X is true because accepting that X is true has positive consequences.
X is false because accepting that X is false has positive consequences.
I wish that X were true, therefore X is true. This is known as Wishful Thinking.
I wish that X were false, therefore X is false. Also Wishful Thinking.
(from Nizkor.org)
The fallacy highlights the difference between a rational reason to accept a proposition based on actual evidence, and a reason to believe based on acceptance of a claim due to other factors, such as harm that may arise as a result of the belief.

viii. Argumentum Ad populum
Appeal to the masses
An appeal to popular wisdom or opinion – common sense.

ix. Argumentum Ad Numerum
Similar to the Argumentum Ad Populum, an argument supported by an assertion that many people subscribe to the conclusion in question, and that the more people who believe a proposition the more likely it is to be true.

x. Argumentum ad Antiquitatem
Fallacy of traditional wisdom
The argument that since a belief or idea is old, or established, it should carry weight. “That’s the way it’s always been.”

xi. Argumentum ad Novitatem
Appeal to the new
The argument that since a belief or idea is new or novel it has credence. In some contexts the age of a claim could demonstrate its worthiness, but generally the suggestion a claim is right simply because it is new, or the most recent on a particular issue, is fallacious. Nonetheless many advertisements employ this fallacy, which is almost institutionalised in the West.

xii. Argumentum ad Crumenam
An argument which suggests money, or wealth, is a “criterion of correctness” (The Atheism Web) – that those with money are more likely to be right than those without

xiii. Argumentum ad Lazarum
The opposite of the Argumentum ad Crumenam – an argument supported by the fallacious notion that the poor are more likely to be right, or good, than the wealthy.

xiv. Ipse Dixit or Ad Verecundiam
He said it himself, fallacious appeal to authority
Arguing a case on the basis of the support of an illegitimate authority. The fallacy involves the suggestion that since a person is an expert on a particular subject, a claim made by the person concerning that subject is true. Obviously, many appeals to authority are valid – it is important to assess the source. Criteria for doing so include consideration of the expertise of the person in question on the subject, whether the claim falls within this area of expertise, the opinion of other experts on the same question, and the degree of agreement between experts, consideration of the expert’s possible bias, the legitimacy of the area of expertise itself, and whether the authority is identified.
Even when the authority of the source of a claim does appear valid, the appeal to authority is not necessarily a strong argument, because it precludes examination of the premisses which support the truth of a claim.

xv. Appeal to an unnamed authority
The appeal to an unnamed authority is a form of ad Verecundiam, where the claims made by  a supposed expert on a particular subject cannot be tested as the authority is not identified.

xvi. Appeal to Nature
The assertion that something is right because it is natural. One form of the fallacy involves invoking an aspect of nature apparently analogous to the proposition in question, and thus asserting the rightness of the conclusion. Another form suggests that human beings, as a product of the natural world, must follow behaviour witnessed in the natural world.
Eg. “The natural world is characterized by competition; animals struggle against each other for ownership of limited natural resources. Capitalism, the competitive struggle for ownership of capital, is simply an inevitable part of human nature. It’s how the natural world works.” (from the Atheism Web)

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