Argumentum ad baculum

"Threat of force" redirects here. Not to be confused with Threat of force (public international law) or Threat display.

Argumentum ad baculum (Latin for "argument to the cudgel" or "appeal to the stick") is the fallacy committed when one makes an appeal to force^[1] to bring about the acceptance of a conclusion.^[2][3][4] 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. It is a special case of the appeal to consequences.

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 evict you from your apartment;

So, you should join our demonstration against the expansion of the park.^[5]

The phrase has also been used to describe 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.^[6]

See also

• Argument from authority
• Formal fallacy
• In terrorem
• Legal threat
• Might makes right
• Proof by intimidation

References

1. Curtis, Gary N. (2018). "Logical Fallacy: Appeal to Force". The Fallacy Files. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
2. https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199331864/stu/supplement/
3. "Argumentum ad Baculum". philosophy.lander.edu. Lander University. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
4. Woods, John (November 1998). "Argumentum ad baculum" (PDF). Argumentation. 12 (4): 493–504. doi:10.1023/A:1007779930624. S2CID 143386357. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
5. Hansen, Hans (2020). "Fallacies". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2020 ed.). Retrieved 16 May 2023.
6. "American Notes". The Illustrated London News. Vol. LXXI, no. 2009. 29 December 1877. p. 622. Retrieved 24 June 2021. ...that uncompromising Sumner whose eloquence exasperated a fiery Southerner into the employment of the argumentum ad baculum...