Argumentum ad baculum

From RationalWiki

The argumentum ad baculum (Latin for "argument by the stick") is a sort of logical fallacy that has proven very helpful to certain sectors of society in the past.

The argument takes this form:

• If person A acknowledges proposition X as true, then proposition Y is true.
• If Y is true, A suffers negative consequences.
• Therefore, X is not true.

[edit] Practical use

A modified form of the argument was otherwise known as the Inquisitorial Question, and took this form:

• If person A denies being a heretic, then we will torture A.
• Therefore, A is a heretic.

It proved very useful for getting almost all the Inquisition's targets to admit they were heretics.

Articles about logical fallacies
Formal fallacies
Ad hominem	Argument by assertion	Negative proof	Non sequitur
Informal fallacies
Ad hoc	Argumentum ad nauseam	Argumentum ex culo	Argument from ignorance	Argument from incredulity	Balance fallacy
Begging the question	Correlation does not equal causation	Equivocation	False analogy	False dilemma	Moving the goalposts
No True Scotsman	One single proof
Red herrings
Argumentum ad baculum	Argumentum ad populum	Argument from adverse consequences	Association fallacy	Bullshit	Poisoning the well
My enemy's enemy	Spotlight fallacy	Straw man	Style over substance fallacy	Texas sharpshooter fallacy
Conditional fallacies
Argument from authority	Galileo gambit	Slippery slope
Fallacious argument styles
Chewbacca Defense	Gish Gallop	Ham Hightail	JAQing off