argumentum ad populum
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Latin: argūmentum (“argument”, “proof”) + ad (“to”, “toward”) + populum (accusative singular of populus, “people”, “nation”) ≈ “appeal to the people”
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ärgyo͞omĕnʹtəm ăd pŏʹpyo͝oləm, IPA(key): /ɑːɡjuːˈmɛntəm æd ˈpɒpjʊləm/
Noun
[edit]argumentum ad populum (plural argumenta ad populum)
- (rhetoric) A fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or all people believe it; it alleges that “if many believe so, it is so”.
- 2001, Martin Reisigl, Ruth Wodak, Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism[1], page 166:
- The appeals to the public were also expressed differently: that is to say, much less by fallacious argumenta ad populum that played on the fears of the addressees, than by an appeal to rational insights, humanity and democracy.
Synonyms
[edit]- (“if many believe so, it is so”): argumentum ad numerum, bandwagon fallacy
Translations
[edit]fallacious argument
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