Argumentum Ad Baculum - The Non-fallacious Ad Baculum

The Non-fallacious Ad Baculum

An ad baculum argument is fallacious when the punishment is not meaningfully related to the conclusion being drawn. Many ad baculum arguments are not fallacies. For example:

If you drive while drunk, you will be put in jail.

You want to avoid going to jail.

Therefore you should not drive while drunk.

This is called a non-fallacious ad baculum. The inference is valid because the existence of the punishment is not being used to draw conclusions about the nature of drunk driving itself, but about people for whom the punishment applies. It would become a fallacy if one proceeded from the first premise to argue, for example, that drunk driving is immoral or bad for society. Specifically, the above argument would become a fallacious ad baculum if the conclusion stated:

Therefore you will not drive while drunk.

if using the form as above:

If x does P, then Q.

Q is a punishment on x.

Therefore, x should not do P.