What does ad populum mean?

Question

What does ad populum mean?

Answer 1

appeal to the people  

Answer 2

If many believe so, it is so

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_...

Answer 3

Latin argumentum ad populum ("appeal to the people").

(logic) 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."

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/argumentum...

An argumentum ad populum (Latin: "appeal to the people"), in logic, is 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." In ethics this argument is stated, "If many find it acceptable, it is acceptable."

This type of argument is known by several names[1], including appeal to the masses, appeal to belief, appeal to the majority, appeal to the people, argument by consensus, authority of the many, bandwagon fallacy, and tyranny of the majority, and in Latin by the names argumentum ad populum ("appeal to the people"), argumentum ad numerum ("appeal to the number"), and consensus gentium ("agreement of the clans"). It is also the basis of a number of social phenomena, including communal reinforcement and the bandwagon effect, and of the Chinese proverb "three men make a tiger".

Examples

This fallacy is sometimes committed while trying to convince a person that a widely popular theory is true.

Since 88% of the people polled believed in UFOs, they must exist.

Since citizens have to pay taxes and are ruled by the government, the state must be a judicial reasoned and rightful institution.

Since most of the world believes in God, He must exist.

It is sometimes committed when trying to convince a person that widely unpopular theories are false.

It's silly for you to claim that Hitler would not have attacked the United States if they hadn't entered World War II. Everyone knows that he planned to conquer the world.

The fallacy is commonly found in arguments over ethics:

Most Americans hold that the Vietnam War was morally wrong. Therefore, the Vietnam War was morally wrong.

Since most people in the world eat meat, there are no ethical issues involved in meat-eating.

The fallacy is also commonly found in marketing:

Brand X vacuum cleaners are the leading brand in America. You should buy Brand X vacuum cleaners.

Watch Show X - the #1 rated show on television!

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