Editing Argumentum ad baculum

{{Short description|Threat of force to make a conclusion accepted}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Threat of force|Threat of force (public international law)|Threat display}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
'''''Argumentum ad baculum''''' ([[Latin]] for "argument to the [[Singlestick|cudgel]]" or "'''appeal to the stick'''") is a type of argument made when one attempts to '''appeal to force'''<ref>{{cite web |last=Curtis |first=Gary N. |year=2018 |title=Logical Fallacy: Appeal to Force |url=http://www.fallacyfiles.org/adbacula.html |website=The Fallacy Files |access-date=2021-06-24}}</ref> to bring about the acceptance of a conclusion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199331864/stu/supplement/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=global.oup.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Argumentum ad Baculum |url=http://philosophy.lander.edu/logic/force.html |website=philosophy.lander.edu |publisher=[[Lander University]] |access-date=2022-07-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Woods |first=John |author-link=John Woods (logician) |date=November 1998 |title=Argumentum ad baculum |url=http://logic.sysu.edu.cn/Soft/UploadSoft/200712/20071221103721774.pdf |journal=Argumentation |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=493–504 |doi=10.1023/A:1007779930624 |s2cid=143386357 |access-date=2023-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124025000/http://logic.sysu.edu.cn/Soft/UploadSoft/200712/20071221103721774.pdf |archive-date=2016-11-24 |url-status=dead}}</ref> One participates in ''argumentum ad baculum'' when one emphasizes the negative consequences of holding the contrary position, regardless of the contrary position's [[truth value]]—particularly when the argument-maker himself causes (or threatens to cause) those negative consequences.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crAPEAAAQBAJ&dq=argumentum%20ad%20baculum&pg=PA27 | title=Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide | isbn=978-0-7618-7254-2 | last1=Van Vleet | first1=Jacob E. | date=28 January 2021 | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref> It is a special case of the [[appeal to consequences]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5c_5AQAAQBAJ&dq=baculum%20appeal%20to%20consequences.&pg=PA202 | title=Argumentation Schemes for Presumptive Reasoning | isbn=978-1-136-68706-8 | last1=Walton | first1=Douglas | date=5 November 2013 | publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Argumentation scholar [[Douglas N. Walton|Douglas Walton]] states that many texts on the matter "take it for granted that ad baculum arguments are inherently fallacious." and continued that "some of the textbooks, especially some of the more interesting accounts, suggest that this type of argument may not always be fallacious, and cite instances where appealing to force or threat or fear could be reasonable in a given context. The issue raised by these provocative accounts is how one should distinguish between the fallacious and the nonfallacious use of the argumentum ad baculum."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QZVHBAAAQBAJ&dq=argumentum%20ad%20baculum&pg=PT12 | title=Scare Tactics: Arguments that Appeal to Fear and Threats | isbn=978-94-017-2940-6 | last1=Walton | first1=Douglas | date=29 June 2013 | publisher=Springer }}</ref>

==Examples==
The ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' gives this example of ''argumentum ad baculum'':
: If you don't join our demonstration against the expansion of the park, we will [[Eviction|evict]] you from your apartment;
: So, you should join our demonstration against the expansion of the park.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Hansen |first=Hans |year=2020 |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |editor-link=Edward N. Zalta |title=Fallacies |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2020/entries/fallacies/ |edition=Summer 2020 |access-date=2023-05-16}}</ref>

The phrase has also been used to describe [[caning of Charles Sumner|the 1856 caning]] of [[Charles Sumner]], an [[abolitionist]] Senator, by one of his pro-slavery opponents, [[Preston Brooks]], on the floor of the [[United States Senate]].<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1877-12-29 |title=American Notes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZtQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA622 |magazine=[[The Illustrated London News]] |volume=LXXI |issue=2009 |page=622 |access-date=2021-06-24 |quote=...that uncompromising [[Charles Sumner|Sumner]] whose eloquence exasperated a fiery Southerner into the employment of the ''argumentum ad baculum''...}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Argument from authority]]
*[[Formal fallacy]]
*''[[In terrorem]]''
*[[Legal threat]]
*[[Might makes right]]
*[[Proof by intimidation]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Fallacies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Causal fallacies]]
[[Category:Informal fallacies]]
[[Category:Latin logical phrases]]
[[Category:Relevance fallacies]]


{{logic-stub}}