Argumentum ad baculum
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The argumentum ad baculum (Latin for "argument to the stick") is a sort of logical fallacy, a variant on argument from adverse consequences, in which the adverse consequences are administered deliberately as a punishment rather than something which follows logically from the premise. This has proven very helpful to certain sectors of society in the past.
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[edit] Form
The argument takes this form:
- If person A acknowledges proposition X as true, then action Y will be taken.
- If Y occurs, A suffers negative consequences.
- Therefore, X is not true.
[edit] Reversal
A modified form of the argument was otherwise known as the Inquisitorial Question, and took this form:
- If person A denies being a heretic, then we will torture A.
- Therefore, A is a heretic.
It proved very useful for getting almost all the Inquisition's targets to admit they were heretics.
[edit] Nothing to do with
The actual baculum in animal anatomy. As such, this is not "Argument to the penis bone". Although, considering that the overwhelming majority of historical users of argumentum ad baculum have been male ...
[edit] See also
| Articles about logical fallacies | |||||
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| Formal fallacies | |||||
| Affirming the consequent | Denying the antecedent | ||||
| Informal fallacies | |||||
| Red herrings | |||||
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Argumentum ad baculum |
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| Conditional fallacies | |||||
| Fallacious argument styles | |||||