Statement #o14 Discussion

Below is the statement as it appears with the fallacy marked as correct. You can see the totals of most frequent responses to this statement. And after reading the any discussion going on below, you can select your choice(s) for the correct answer. For now, whoever posts each statement can update corrections.

At one time, most people in Europe believed that the earth was the center of the solar system (at least most of those who had beliefs about such things). However, this belief turned out to be false.

Appeal to Belief
Category: Fallacies of Relevance (Red Herrings)

Appeal to Belief is a fallacy that has this general pattern:

Most people believe that a claim, X, is true.
Therefore X is true.

This line of "reasoning" is fallacious because the fact that many people believe a claim does not, in general, serve as evidence that the claim is true.

There are, however, some cases when the fact that many people accept a claim as true is an indication that it is true. For example, while you are visiting Maine, you are told by several people that they believe that people older than 16 need to buy a fishing license in order to fish. Barring reasons to doubt these people, their statements give you reason to believe that anyone over 16 will need to buy a fishing license.

There are also cases in which what people believe actually determines the truth of a claim. For example, the truth of claims about manners and proper behavior might simply depend on what people believe to be good manners and proper behavior. Another example is the case of community standards, which are often taken to be the standards that most people accept. In some cases, what violates certain community standards is taken to be obscene. In such cases, for the claim "x is obscene" to be true is for most people in that community to believe that x is obscene. In such cases it is still prudent to question the justification of the individual beliefs.

Appeal to Belief

1,252 Total Answer Attempts 46%
582 Correctly Popped Fallacies
670 Incorrectly Un/Popped

Example from LaBossiere's Forty Two Fallacies

( Random Image )

Most Common Responses

582 - Appeal to Belief
70 - Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief
45 - Hasty Generalization
42 - Biased Generalization
36 - Appeal to Popularity
35 - Appeal to Ridicule
30 - Burden of Proof
30 - Appeal to Tradition
28 - Appeal to Common Practice
24 - Poisoning the Well
22 - Begging the Question
22 - Relativist Fallacy
21 - Misleading Vividness
21 - Fallacy of Composition
20 - Circumstantial Ad Hominem
19 - Appeal to Novelty
18 - Red Herring
17 - Genetic Fallacy
16 - Fallacy of Division
16 - Post Hoc
14 - Appeal to Authority
14 - Guilt by Association
11 - False Dilemma
11 - Confusing Cause and Effect
10 - Appeal to Spite
8 - Middle Ground
8 - Slippery Slope
8 - Ad Hominem
7 - Gambler's Fallacy
7 - Appeal to Flattery
7 - Peer Pressure
7 - Ad Hominem Tu Quoque
6 - Ignoring a Common Cause
5 - Appeal to Fear
5 - Special Pleading
4 - Personal Attack
3 - Appeal to Pity
3 - Appeal to Emotion

Likes for Correct Answers

Show all on page ↑

1 Thread with 1 Comment

Not Applicable?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't this not fall under the logical fallacy of "Appeal to Belief"? My understanding is that Appeal to Belief occurs when you have a generalized statement of the populous and then an agreement with said statement. In this sentence, he's just stating a fact.

8.11.19 09:48 by nsomarro

+ Reply 0 comments downstream.

Play Game - Fallacy List - Add Statements - Player Collections - Discussions

Login - High Scores - About - Trivium - Links - Contact

Donate To DontFallacy.Me - Support Dr. Labossiere

Creative Commons, 2014, Wiki World Order (Morgan Lesko)

* Fallacious statements are usually paired with a random image of a person who never spoke those words.
This free site is for educational purposes, studying intellectual dishonesty. The images are being used under fair use. Sunflower by robstephaustrali. Katie Couric image owned by CBS.