''Argumentum ad baculum'' (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
for "argument to the
cudgel
A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma cause ...
" or "appeal to the stick") is the
fallacy
A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning, or "wrong moves," in the construction of an argument which may appear stronger than it really is if the fallacy is not spotted. The term in the Western intellectual tradition was int ...
committed when one makes an appeal to force
to bring about the acceptance of a conclusion.
[John Woods: ''Argumentum ad baculum.'' In: ''Argumentation.'' Vol. 12, No. 4 (November 1998), pp. 493–504, ]
Online
. 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
In logic and mathematics, a truth value, sometimes called a logical value, is a value indicating the relation of a proposition to truth, which in classical logic has only two possible values ('' true'' or ''false'').
Computing
In some prog ...
— particularly when the argument-maker himself causes (or threatens to cause) those negative consequences. It is a special case of the
appeal to consequences.
Examples
The
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. E ...
gives this example of ''argumentum ad baculum'':
: If you don’t join our demonstration against the expansion of the park, we will
evict you from your apartment.
: So, you should join our demonstration against the expansion of the park.
The phrase has also been used to describe
the 1856 caning of
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...
, an
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
Senator, by one of his pro-slavery opponents,
Preston Brooks, on the floor of the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and ...
.
See also
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Argument from authority
An argument from authority (''argumentum ab auctoritate''), also called an appeal to authority, or argumentum ad verecundiam, is a form of argument in which the opinion of an authority on a topic is used as evidence to support an argument. Some con ...
*
Conformity (psychology)
*
Formal fallacy In philosophy, a formal fallacy, deductive fallacy, logical fallacy or non sequitur (; Latin for " tdoes not follow") is a pattern of reasoning rendered invalid by a flaw in its logical structure that can neatly be expressed in a standard logic sy ...
*''
In terrorem''
*
Legal threat
*
Management by perkele
*
Might makes right
Might makes right or Might is right is an aphorism on the origin of morality, with both descriptive and prescriptive senses.
Descriptively, it asserts that a society's view of right and wrong is determined by those in power, with a meaning s ...
*
Proof by intimidation
References
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