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

1,504 Total Answer Attempts 46%
685 Correctly Popped Fallacies
819 Incorrectly Un/Popped

Example from LaBossiere's Forty Two Fallacies

( Random Image )

Most Common Responses

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

Likes for Correct Answers

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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.

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