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:
“There is no logical reason why the camel of great art should pass through the needle of mob intelligence.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)
“Argument is conclusive ... but ... it does not remove doubt, so that the mind may rest in the sure knowledge of the truth, unless it finds it by the method of experiment.... For if any man who never saw fire proved by satisfactory arguments that fire burns ... his hearer’s mind would never be satisfied, nor would he avoid the fire until he put his hand in it ... that he might learn by experiment what argument taught.”
—Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294)