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The bandwagon fallacy, also known as appeal to the people, authority of the many, consensus gentium (from Latin consensus gentium), argument by consensus, appeal to the gallery, appeal to popularity or argumentum ad populum, is a fallacy where something is 'proven' by stating that many or all people believe it, or acceptable because many people do it. If everybody believes so, it is so. Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...
A logical fallacy is an error in logical argument which is independent of the truth of the premises. ...
For example:
- One could claim that smoking is a healthy pastime, since millions of people do it. However, knowing the dangers of smoking, we instead say that smoking is not a healthy pastime despite the fact that millions do it.
- One could claim that 13 is an unlucky number, since many or all people believe it to be. However, statistically 13 is no more unlucky than any other number.
- One could claim that Christopher Columbus sailed in 1492 to prove the world round, since many people believe this to be true, but historians agree that this was not his motivation.
Of course, this only applies to 'something' with an objective criterion, such as the health effects of smoking. In areas of a subjective nature, such as fashion or music, it could be argued that the "authority of the many" or the "appeal to popularity" is a true reflection of the subjective desires of a population group. Look up triskaidekaphobia and paraskavedekatriaphobia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Triskaidekaphobia is an irrational fear of the number 13. ...
Christopher Columbus (conjectural image) Christopher Columbus was the son of a wool merchant and weaver born in 1451 in a town called Genoa. ...
While the argument may seem convincing when not examined, a simple refutation would lie in pointing out that at a time not too distant in United States history, it was common to hold other people as slaves, which few people today would consider ethical. The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ...
The bandwagon fallacy is a pillar of advertising, along with the appeal to authority fallacy. It is a red herring and genetic fallacy. Generally speaking, advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas by an identified sponsor. ...
An appeal to authority is a type of argument in logic also known as argument from authority, argumentum ad verecundiam (Latin: argument to respect) or ipse dixit (Latin: he himself said it, where an unsupported assertion depends on the asserters credibility). ...
Ignoratio elenchi (also known as irrelevant conclusion) is the logical fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but which proves or supports a different proposition than the one it is purporting to prove or support. ...
The genetic fallacy is a logical fallacy in which the origin of a belief, claim, or theory is confused with its justification. ...
The bandwagon fallacy is not made when appealing to an expert authority or a consensus of credible experts.
See also
An appeal to the majority (also called argumentum ad populum) is the Americans support the death penalty as an argument for the death penalty is an appeal to the majority and does not logically support the argument. ...
The bandwagon effect is the observation that people often do (or believe) things because many other people do (or believe) the same. ...
Two wrongs make a right is a logical fallacy that occurs when it is assumed that if one wrong is committed, another second wrong will cancel it out. ...
North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ...
The term Reductio ad Hitlerum (fake Latin for reduction to Hitler) was originally coined by University of Chicago Classics professor and ethicist Leo Strauss. ...
External links - Propaganda critic: Bandwagon appeal
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