As A Logical Argument
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".
Read more about this topic: Argumentum Ad Baculum
Famous quotes containing the words logical and/or argument:
“The truth is, that common-sense, or thought as it first emerges above the level of the narrowly practical, is deeply imbued with that bad logical quality to which the epithet metaphysical is commonly applied; and nothing can clear it up but a severe course of logic.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (18391914)
“The argument is over.”
—St. Augustine (354430)