Appeal to consequences

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Appeal to consequences, also known as argumentum ad consequentiam (Latin: argument to the consequences), is an argument that concludes a premise (typically a belief) to be either true or false based on whether the premise leads to desirable or undesirable consequences. This is based on an appeal to emotion and is considered to be a form of logical fallacy, since the appeal of a consequence does not address the truth value of the premise. Moreover, in categorizing consequences as either desirable or undesirable, such arguments inherently contain subjective points of view.

In logic, appeal to consequences refers only to arguments which assert a premise's truth value (true or false) based on the consequences; appeal to consequences does not technically refer to arguments that address a premise's desirability (good or bad, or right or wrong) instead of its truth value.

Contents 1 General form 1.1 Positive form 1.1.1 Examples 1.2 Negative form 1.2.1 Examples 2 References 3 See also

General form

An argument based on appeal to consequences generally has the following argument formTemplate:Ref:

If P, then Q will occur.

Q is desirable/undesirable.

Therefore, P is true/false.

A variation known as appeal to consequences of a belief has this formTemplate:Ref:

The belief in P leads to Q.

Q is a desirable/undesirable.

Therefore, P is true/false.

In addition to being a fallacious form, an especially poor argument of these formats may also contain an invalid premise; that is, P may not even lead to Q. In other words, the alleged causality between P and Q may not exist or may not have been shown to exist.

Positive form

If P, then Q will occur.

Q is desirable.

Therefore, P is true.

It is closely related to wishful thinking in its construction.

Examples

• "Pi is probably a rational number: being rational would make it more elegant."
• "Real estate markets will continue to rise this year: home owners enjoy the capital gains."
• "Humans will travel faster than light: faster-than-light travel would be beneficial for space travel."

Negative form

If P, then Q will occur.

Q is undesirable.

Therefore, P is false.

Appeal to force is a special instance of this form.

This form somewhat resembles modus tollens but is both different and fallacious, since "Q is undesirable" is not equivalent to "Q is false".

Examples

• "Wikipedia is seldom wrong: it would not be a reliable source if it contained many errors."
• "Atheism must be erroneous: it leads to lower church attendance."
• "Religion is the opiate of humanity: if it were true, nobody would have free will."
• "Enron cannot be guilty: think of all the shares our family owns."

References

• Template:Note FallacyFiles.org - Appeal to Consequences
• Template:Note ESGS.org - Appeal to Consequences
• Template:Note Ramdac.org - Appeal to Consequences of a Belief

See also

• appeal to fear
• wishful thinking
• argumentum ad hominem circumstantial form
• list of logical fallaciesca:Apel·lació a les conseqüències

es:Argumentum ad consecuentiam fr:Argumentum ad consequentiam he:אד קונסקוונטיאם lt:Argumentas iš pasekmių no:Appell til konsekvens